The story of Uzumaki Naruto
by Dreetje
Summary: After hearing the truth about Kyuubi by Mizuki, Naruto doesn't join Team 7. No, he trains for 6 months under Mitarashi Anko. During this time he learns about his past, his present and his future.
1. Chapter 1: Truth Revealed

I do not own Naruto. If I did than he wouldn't be chasing Sasuke or Sakura.

Chapter 1: Truth revealed

Simple. That's what it was supposed to be. It wasn't. Passing the genin exam was not as easy Naruto thought it would be. First there was the written test. Oh how he hated these kind of tests. Not that he was stupid or something, but written tests where a problem because he always got a much harder test than his classmates. Why? Because his teachers hated him that's why. And they weren't the only ones. A lot of people hated him, disliked him or even ignored him. For a long time he wondered why they treated him that way but after hours of thinking he couldn't understand or find a reason for their hatred.

Written tests had always been a problem ever since he started in the academy. In his first year Naruto really tried hard to study and be an excellent student but his teachers didn't give him a chance to get good grades which he really wanted. He knew good grades were important even if nobody had told him. Whenever he asked a question they ignored him, when he tried to answer a question again they ignored him. Once during a test he dared to look at the questions on the test from the boy next to him. When he did he saw that they had different questions. The boy next to him had questions Naruto could answer while his own test was really complicated and practically impossible to answer even for a student of a higher year. After several months of trying to get good grades and not succeeding he simply stopped trying.

Second there was the practical exam where they had to show how good they were in kunai and shuriken throwing, taijutsu and ninjustu. Now kunai and shuriken throwing was something he could do. He would be much better though if his kunai and shuriken were in prime condition but unfortunately a new set of those were expensive and for an orphan like Naruto those were unaffordable. His Taijutsu was a mess and he knew it but it wasn't his fault really since nobody wanted to teach him the basic movements. Sure he could hit someone but a punch is much more than just a hit. A punch is a hit to a certain part of the body with the intention to really hurt the opponent. His chakra control was a mess also and for the life of him he just couldn't do that stupid Bunshin No Jutsu. No matter how many time he tried it wouldn't work. It drove him almost up the walls from frustration.

All this resulted in his third failure to pass the genin exam. Iruka sensei didn't pass him because he couldn't do the necessary clone with the Bunshin No Jutsu. He was really mad. Not at Iruka sensei though no Iruka sensei was one the few people that treated him with some form of care. Other than Sandaime jichan and the people at Ichiraku ramen he had no one he could call friend or family. So Naruto sat at the swing on the academy ground watching how his classmates got praised or congratulated by their parents. His heart ached a little seeing this scenery.

"Naruto?" he heard a voice behind him say. When he turned around he saw his other teacher Mizuki say.

" Are you okay Naruto?" Mizuki asked with concern showing in his eyes. Naruto just kept silent not really wanting to answer how he felt.

"You know, Naruto? Iruka sensei really feels bad about failing you again. He doesn't do it to pick on you. You know that don't you? He really wants you to pass but he doesn't want you to pass when you clearly not ready. Being a shinobi is a life threatening job." Mizuki sensei tried to explain to Naruto.

"I know that being a shinobi is a dangerous job and that people who aren't ready get themselves and their teammate killed. I know and understand that, but…" Naruto answered to his sensei.

"But you wanted to pass didn't you Naruto?" Mizuki completed Naruto's argument.

"Yes I really wanted to pass this time." Naruto said feeling more sad by the minute. He really did want to pass with his classmates. It was already the third time he tried after all.

"What would you do if I told you there is still a chance to pass the exam?"Mizuki said with a mysterious look on his face.

Naruto looked at his teacher with tears in his eyes. "Really Mizuki sensei? You mean it? There's still a way to pass? How? What must I do?" Naruto fired question after question towards Mizuki.

"Yes really, but this test is really special Naruto. It's a test that's much harder than the normal exam but there's no written exam though" Mizuki said to Naruto.

Now this was music to Naruto's ears. A exam to become genin but no written exam? A dream come true for him. Why didn't nobody tell him that. He would have taken that exam right away.

"I take it, what's the exam?" Naruto said.

"Well, you must succeed in taking a scroll from the hokage's tower. That's the first part. Get In the tower and take the forbidden scroll, then get away with it without being seen. The second part is to learn one jutsu from the scroll. If you can do that you pass and you can become a genin." Mizuki explained.

'Forbidden scroll? Seems strange to have to steal that one. Bah whatever Mizuki sensei is a sensei thus he would know wouldn't he?' Naruto quietly asked himself. But hey with his pranking skills he should be able to do that.

"Ok, got it. Take the scroll and learn a jutsu. That's it right? That's all?" Naruto asked just to be sure.

"Yes, that's it. Now after you take the scroll, go to the forest just north from the tower and I will meet you there later on to test you on the jutsu. Ok?" Mizuki let Naruto know.

"Sure thing Mizuki sensei. I will definitely pass this time." Naruto exclaimed. That being said Naruto left to make his preparations for the evening. He had a lot of planning to do after all. If he had stayed a little longer he would have seen the look of pure hatred and disgust on Mizuki's face.

'Got you now, you little demon. When you take that scroll, I will find you and dispose of you and get the scroll all for myself. Then I will be the strongest.' Mizuki thought and left with a evil grin on his face.

Naruto quietly made his way out of the tower with the scroll on his shoulders. Taking it was surprisingly easy. So now he made his way to the forest where he would learn one jutsu so he could pass the exam and be a genin after all this time. After running for about 20 minutes he found a large clearing in the forest which would be perfect to practice his chosen jutsu.

"All right, now what jutsu should I chose?" Naruto wondered out loud. He opened the scroll and looked at the first jutsu listed.

'Kage Bunshin No Jutsu'

"Ah man a Bunshin No Jutsu? I suck at those." Naruto said disappointed. But what was written beneath the name of the jutsu caught his eye.

'Kage Bunshin no jutsu. A highly advanced Bunshin Jutsu that makes actual clones that can be used to assist in fights and learning. A Kage Bunshin clone is able to take orders and execute them without the help of the caster. A little know fact of this jutsu is that everything a Kage Bunshin learns the caster learns as well. This is highly useful because it cuts back time on learning a new jutsu.'

Naruto could see the use in that. If he learned that jutsu he would be able to learn faster and better. He would even have sparring partners at his own desire. Not to mention the pranks he could pull using that jutsu.

"Well, better start practicing before Mizuki sensei arrives. Maybe I could learn another jutsu if I master this one fast enough." Naruto said excited to learn a new jutsu.

Several hours later Naruto was close to mastering the jutsu. He found it surprisingly easy compared to the usual Bunshin No Jutsu. He briefly wondered why but in the end he didn't really care. The Kage Bunshin No Jutsu was 10 time better than the normal Bunshin No Jutsu after all.

Just when he was about to give it another shot he felt somebody arrive in the clearing. To his surprise it wasn't Mizuki but Iruka sensei who stood before him. Iruka sensei looked out of breath and a little pissed off.

"Hey Iruka sensei, so it's you who came to take the test instead of Mizuki sensei?" Naruto asked.

Iruka who had prepared a whole speech for Naruto about idiotic things to do and responsibility promptly lost all the words he wanted to say (or yell) at Naruto's question.

"What do you mean Naruto? What test? What are you talking about? Do you know that half the shinobi population is searching for you? What were you thinking, stealing the forbidden scroll?" Iruka asked his favorite (not that he would tell anyone though) student.

"Huh? Searching for me? Why? I'm just taking the extra exam to become a genin like Mizuki sensei told me to." Naruto fired back at Iruka.

"Extra exam? There is no such thing as an extra exam Naruto. Did Mizuki tell you to take the scroll?" Iruka said while he started to piece the things together. 'Mizuki, is this your doing?' he thought.

Now Naruto was confused. Iruka sensei didn't know about the exam and said that he stole the forbidden scroll. Naruto started to feel a little nervous about all this. Had Mizuki sensei fooled him?

"But, Mizuki sensei told me this afternoon that if I succeed at taking the scroll and learning one jutsu from it that I would pass the exam. He even told me about this place and that he would meet me here.'" Naruto tried to explain to his favorite teacher.

'Just as I thought. He used Naruto to get to the scroll. That bastard had this all planned out. He would probably kill Naruto and then disappear with the scroll.' Iruka thought now understanding the situation.

Just as he was about to warn Naruto of the danger they were in, a large number of kunai and shuriken came flying in their direction. He pushed Naruto out of the way but got hit with several kunai. Naruto looked at his teacher with fear in his eyes showing that he didn't really understood what was going on.

"Ah Iruka, now why am I not surprised that you found Naruto before I did. You always had a soft spot for him." Mizuki sneered at Iruka.

Iruka looked at Mizuki while pulling out the kunai that wounded him. He looked calm but inside he was panicking. There was no way he could beat Mizuki when he would have to protect Naruto. Mizuki would take advantage of the situation.

"Naruto, run and get out of here! Under no circumstance give Mizuki the scroll. Protect it with your life. This is a mission from me to you. Now go hurry!" Iruka yelled at Naruto.

Naruto who didn't want to leave his teacher alone while he was wounded tried to protest but one look from Iruka told him that there was no room for discussion. So he did what he was told. He ran out of the clearing as fast as his legs could go and found a place to hide.

Mizuki however was no a chuunin for nothing. He quickly tracked Naruto down and prepared to attack him but Iruka arrived and placed himself between Naruto and Mizuki. Mizuki who started losing his patience started yelling at Iruka.

"Why do you protect him, he's just a demon. Don't you remember what that demon did to our village. To our friends and family. To your family. Don't you remember? I don't get it, why put your life on the line for him?" Mizuki spit out at Iruka.

"Stop it Mizuki, you know that we can't talk about that. It's forbidden for a reason." Iruka pleaded with Mizuki trying to prevent Mizuki from telling about the Kyuubi. If Naruto heard about that there's would be no telling what would happen.

Mizuki however had no intention of holding back. For years he had tolerated the demon child. His tolerance had reached an end. It was time to end it all. He was leaving the village anyway so he didn't care about the consequences.

"Naruto, do you know why everybody hates you, why everybody treats you bad, why nobody wants to be your friend? Off course you don't know it's a S class secret after all. Listen good you little demon, twelve years ago the Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi instead he sealed it into a baby. Can you guess who that baby was? Can you?" Mizuki yelled at Naruto with a strange look of satisfaction on his face.

Naruto who had been silent just until now in the hope he could sneak away suddenly started shaking and pieced the thing Mizuki said together.

"Me?" he managed to say after several seconds. He was to shocked to believe it. It couldn't be true. No way that was possible. Was it?

"Yes it was you. Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside you. That's why you're a demon. You're the Kyuubi reborn. For years I had to tolerate you existence but tonight I finally will dispose of you like we should have done years ago. Prepare yourself demon!" Mizuki exclaimed.

Mizuki took a large shuriken that was strapped on his back and threw it at Naruto with great speed. Naruto however was still shocked about what he had learned and didn't even notice the shuriken coming. Iruka however did move and tried to make it in time to save his student.

Next thing Naruto noticed was a human shaped shadow in front of him. Looking up he saw Iruka protecting him from Mizuki's shuriken. Looking closer he saw that the shuriken had already planted itself into Iruka's back . Never been shown such kind action toward him Naruto couldn't understand Iruka's action.

"Why? Why did you protect me? You didn't have to save me? Why?" Naruto asked his teacher while tears fell from his eye's onto his whiskered cheeks.

"I did it because you're my precious student. You and I are a lot alike. We're both orphans, we both grew up alone. I remember those difficult times so good it actually hurts thinking about it. Naruto, I failed you didn't I? I should have helped you more. I should have known how you felt all these years. I'm so sorry Naruto. I promise you that I will help you the best I can from now on. I promise I'll be there when you need me." Iruka said while wincing from the pain caused by the shuriken in his back.

Naruto heard Iruka's words and realized that Iruka really cared about him. Looking beside Iruka he saw Mizuki staring at the two of them with a look of pure disgust on his face. He looked at the man who had tried to kill him. The man who had injured his teacher. One of his precious people.

'He tried to kill me and Iruka sensei. He hated me for years and calls me a demon. No way that I'm allowing that to continue. He's going down and I'm going to be the one who does it.' Naruto furiously thought.

"Man, Iruka you're even more pathetic than I thought. You actually care about him? He's a freaking demon for god's sake." Mizuki sneered.

"I'm not a demon. I'm not Kyuubi. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konohagakure. And I'm the one who's going to kick you're sorry ass. You'll be sorry for hurting my precious persons" Naruto said full of confidence.

Mizuki could hardly believe his ears, here was a boy not even a genin just an academy student, and not a very good one at that, saying that he will be the one who defeats him. Him, a chuunin. Ridiculous if you asked him.

"Sure, bring it on demon. I'm going to finish you off anyway you can make it more enjoyable for me if you struggle to survive." Mizuki stated laughing at Naruto's actions and words.

Naruto moved in front of his wounded sensei and started doing the handseals he had practiced the whole evening. Iruka made some movements to try and stop him but no avail. Forming the last seal Naruto yelled out.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu"

One thing that could be said about Naruto is that once he decides to do something, he does it with full conviction and gives it everything he has. One moment there were only three people standing there, one blink of the eye's later a whole army of Naruto's filled the area.

Mizuki's eye's popped out of his head seeing the large number of Naruto's standing there cracking their knuckles and sneering at him. If the situation wasn't so serious Naruto would have laughed at Mizuki's shocked face. However now was not the time for laughing, no it was time to kick Mizuki's butt. And that's what Naruto was going to do.

"You tricked me into stealing that scroll for you, then you insult me by calling me a demon. I don't care about either of those things but you dared to hurt my precious person and that is something I cannot and will not forget nor forgive. Everything single bit of pain Iruka sensei felt I'm going to give it back to you a thousand times over. I going to show you a whole new meaning to the saying ' in a world of pain'. Ready or not here I come." Naruto said while keeping his eyes on Mizuki.

"Bring it on demon." Mizuki tried to say with more confidence than he had. Nobody would feel very confident when facing an army of orange clothed adversary's academy student or not.

"Get him! Show no mercy to the traitor!" Naruto ordered his clones while protecting Iruka.

Now taijutsu is all about having style, grace and precision. But those things don't really matter when you're a mob of kicking and punching clones bent on kicking the guy into the next dimension. While Mizuki was without a doubt more talented and stronger in a one on one fight, facing these numbers there's not a lot that can be done. Sure you defend and retaliate but in the end you lose big time.

Naruto and Iruka stood aside watching the fight both amazed at what the clones were doing. They punched, they kicked, kneed and elbowed Mizuki all over his body. Didn't matter where, the only thing that mattered was the fact that the hit landed.

"Naruto, don't you think that he has had enough? I mean, there's no way that he's going to get back up after such a beating. You don't want to kill after all. Right?" Iruka asked with concern. Not concern for Mizuki, the guy had tried to kill both of them after all but rather concern for his student and what would happen to him if he would end up killing Mizuki.

"I guess so, but I'm not going to forgive him for hurting you Iruka sensei." Naruto said.

Iruka smiled at his student and nodded as if saying that was quite alright.

Naruto started moving toward Mizuki while all of the sudden he came to a halt. He turned around and looked toward Iruka with eyes filled with tears as he recalled what Mizuki had told him. During the fight he didn't really have time to think about all of that but now the fight was over and he had calmed down a little bit he couldn't help but worry.

"Iruka sensei? Am I really the Kyuubi? Am I really a demon?" Naruto asked Iruka hoping that Iruka would deny the whole thing.

Iruka couldn't help but feel sad for Naruto. Sad and worried how Naruto would react to what he was about to tell him. But he wouldn't let Naruto down. He promised him that he would be there for him and he would be no matter what.

"No Naruto you're not the Kyuubi and you're certainly not a demon. While it is true that the Kyuubi is sealed inside you you're every bit as human as I am. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise ok? And if they do just ignore them, they're idiots who don't see the real Naruto." Iruka tried to comfort Naruto.

"The real me? I don't even know what the real me is anymore. I'm tired of hiding behind pranks and stupidity. I'm tired of being lonely. Sometime it hurts so much that I don't know what to do anymore." Naruto said on the verge of crying.

'Konoha really has been terrible to you, hasn't it Naruto' Iruka thought. 'Well, no more. I'm going to be there right next to you from now on.'

"Naruto, I can't even begin to say how sorry I am. I truly am. But you're not alone Naruto. You have me, Sandaime Hokage and the people at Ichiraku. Naruto, I'm made you a promise didn't I? A promise that when you need me I'll be there for you. And like you I never break my promises. If you need me, no matter what or when come find and I will help to best of my abilities." Iruka said in a voice which showed Naruto that he meant every word.

Naruto looked at Iruka and couldn't help but he let a few tears fall and ran over to Iruka to give him the biggest hug he had given in his life. Though Iruka winced in pain, he returned the hug just as fierce.

"Now, I think we should go see the Hokage and explain everything that's happened here. But before that I want you to close your eyes for a moment." Iruka said.

Naruto didn't know why Iruka wanted him to close his eyes but did it anyway. He felt Iruka placing something on his forehead and heard Iruka telling him to open his eyes.

"Congratulations on making genin, Naruto. You are now a proud shinobi of the Leaf. Well done, I'm very proud of you." Iruka said smiling at Naruto's face that showed how much those words meant for the new genin.

Naruto couldn't believe it, even though this test was all a big lie Iruka had passed him. He told him that he was now a genin of the Leaf and that he was proud of him. Those words meant the world to Naruto and he secretly vowed to make sure that he would do everything in his power to hear those words again and again.

Sarutobi, the Sandaime hokage of the village of the Leaf smiled when he heard the words Iruka said to Naruto. He was very worried about his adoptive grandson, Naruto was one of his precious people after all so when he saw and heard what had happened in the forest he thought that Naruto would be crushed and just give up on everything. Once again Naruto surprised him by overcoming a obstacle no twelve year old boy should need to overcome. He was also very proud of Iruka, he knew he made the right decision when he made him a academy teacher. The man had a way with kids. Sarutobi also supported Iruka's decision to make Naruto a genin. The boy had learned the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu in only a few hours. Not even Jounin could accomplish such a feat and he would be sure to tell Naruto just that. His heart ached when he thought about the secrets he had to held about the young boy's life and past but it was a necessary evil. The time will come when he's ready to hear all those secret but he made a promise not to tell until a certain time and he would honor that promise.

Just when he was about to remember the danger of those times and the consequences the opened and his adoptive grandson and his teacher crashed into his office. Chuckling about the way of entering a room he looked down at the ground where his visitors tried to pick themselves up.

Naruto who had carried a wounded Iruka and the scroll all the way from the forest to the tower stood there sweating and panting waiting to catch his breath so he could explain what had happened.

"Ji-chan, I…." Naruto tried to say.

"It's okay Naruto, I know what happened. I saw and heard everything through my crystal ball here. No need to worry about explaining. And don't worry about getting punished as well. I know that Mizuki tricked you into taking the scroll." Sandaime said trying to assure Naruto that everything was all right.

Naruto slumped into the seat releasing a breath he didn't know he held. He knew that his Ji-chan would never lie to him. If he said everything would be all right then everything would be all right. Nevertheless he had several questions for his Ji-chan.

"Ji-chan, can I ask you a question? About what happened?" Naruto shyly tried to ask.

Sandaime looked at him and knew that Naruto deserved some answers and decided to allow him some questions.

"Off course Naruto, but you will have to understand that there are several questions that I can't answer. Not because I don't want to but because I made a promise not to tell until you're ready. Is that ok with you?" the Sandaime Hokage said.

'Well, it's better than nothing I guess' Naruto thought. Although he was a bit disappointed.

"Ok, I can live with that. My first question is why did the Yondaime chose me to become the prison of the Kyuubi? Why didn't anybody tell me? I was so sad every time somebody hurt me. If I had known maybe I would have understood it a little better? And do you know who my parents were?" Naruto fired one question after another.

The Sandaime hokage simply puffed his piped looking for a way to answer Naruto without revealing too much to him. After a little moment of silence he sat up straight in his chair, put his hand under his chin and looked Naruto right in the eyes.

"Naruto, Yondaime chose you because he knew that you were the only one who could hold the Kyuubi back. The sealing Jutsu he used needed a vessel with a pure soul who the Kyuubi could not defeat. And what is more pure than a newborn baby? That's why he chose you. The reason why nobody told you is because I made a law. That law forbids anyone to talk about the fact that the Kyuubi is sealed inside you. I did this so that you could make friends among the children of your age. Only the adults know about the Kyuubi. I didn't tell you about all this because I hoped that it would remain a secret a bit longer. About your parents, yes I knew them but, and I'm very sorry about this, I cannot tell you about them at this point. Again I'm very sorry, I understand that's the question you wanted answered more than anything." The Sandaime hokage said in a sincere voice.

Naruto looked torn between protesting and accepting the answers he got. But in a way he could understand his Ji-chan. Just like Naruto he didn't want to break a promise no matter how much he wanted to. But still he wanted to know about his parents very much. But in the end he understood. He also knew that his Ji-chan would tell him everything he wanted to know when the time was right.

"Fine, I don't like it but I guess I understand where you're coming from. But can you tell me one thing? Did they love me? Would they be proud of me?" Naruto asked in a voice that clearly told all those in the room how afraid he was of the answer.

"Naruto, I can honestly say that I have never seen parents who loved their child as much as they loved you. Your mom was constantly talking about how she would teach you how to walk, how to write and read and all those kind of things. You're dad was always talking about how he would make you the best shinobi in all the elemental countries. They were proud of you then and I'm more than sure that they would be very proud of you now. I know I'm very proud of you." Sandaime said with a smile on his face which made him look several years younger.

Naruto couldn't be more happier than right now. Not only did his parents love him very much, they were also very proud of him then and now. And to top of that his Ji-chan, the man whose called the professor of shinobi, said he was very proud of him. After all what had happened today he couldn't be more happy and it showed. He was literally beaming with happiness.

Iruka and Sarutobi looked at their young charge and were truly happy that Naruto had found some source of happiness in his difficult life. They knew he needed these moments because his life would not be an easy one. Both of them promised once again to do everything they could to help the young genin.

"all right, I decided." Naruto yelled out shocking both of them out of their thoughts.

"What have you decided Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"I decided that I will make my parents proud by becoming the best shinobi in all the lands and then I'm going to take your job Ji-chan! I will be hokage one day. Not just any Hokage but the best of them all!" Naruto proudly announced.

"Well, if there is anyone who can do it Naruto it is you, I don't doubt it for one moment." Sandaime said. "But you're going to have to work very hard to accomplish such a thing. No more slacking off. You'll have to take training serious and work very hard every step of the way. Are you prepared to go all the way? To never give up no matter what? " Sandaime said hoping he would inspire Naruto to work hard.

Naruto looked at the two men in the room with pure determination showing in his eyes. They could almost see a small fire burning in his eyes waiting to become a major fire storm showing he meant every word and that was willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.

"Very well, Naruto. I can see that you're willing to go all the way. When you need help don't hesitate to ask. You know you're always welcome here. Now for your actions tonight I'm going to reward you with the pay of a B-rank mission. You did stop a traitor and protected one of the most important scrolls of the village. But I will ask you to not to teach the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to anyone. It's a forbidden jutsu for a reason." Sandaime said to a stunned Naruto.

Naruto couldn't believe what he just heard. A B-rank paycheck. Oh the things he could buy with that amount of money. He could buy ramen for a long time or a new shuriken and or kunai set. He would definitely have to think about this. He quickly promised not to teach the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to anyone. Maybe he should ask Iruka or Ji-chan to come with him so they wouldn't overcharge him like the always did. He decided to ask about it right away.

"Iruka sensei or Ji-chan, could one of you come with me when I go shopping tomorrow. I would like to buy some new clothes and stuff. But most of the shops always give me crappy stuff or overcharge me." Naruto tried to explain.

Sandaime and Iruka looked at Naruto and made a quick decision.

"Naruto, I'm free in the morning so I will go with you. I will also have a talk with some of the shop owners about this. I will not accept such behavior towards one of our own. You should have told me about this sooner Naruto. Why didn't you?" Sandaime asked.

"Well, I didn't want to cause any more trouble than I already did so I kept quiet." Naruto answered sheepishly.

"Naruto, next time come straight to me okay? These are the sort of problem I want to know about. That's why I'm here for remember?" Sandaime said.

Naruto nodded saying he understood and yawned. It had been a long day and an even longer night for him so he was understandably tired. Seeing this Sandaime dismissed both of them for the night but not before telling Naruto that they would meet at 9am to go shopping. Iruka and Naruto bid each other goodnight and Naruto promised to come by at Iruka's house to show his new clothes in the afternoon.


	2. Chapter 2: Shopping & start of training

I don't own Naruto, If I did Anko would be a main character, Sasuke would be an jerk ( oh no wait he already is oh well) and Naruto would kick ass.

To the people who reviewed:

Thank you all very much, I made me really happy reading your comments and encouragements. I hope you'll keep reading my story in the future. If you have any remarks or suggestions for the story please let me know. I will read them all.

Once again thank you very much.

Chapter 2 : Shopping and start of training

Naruto had never slept so well in his entire life. After everything that had happened the day before he felt strangely at peace with himself. Sure he carried a demon inside him, not just any demon but the strongest of them all, but both Iruka and his Ji-chan assured him that he was a prison for the Kyuubi. In no way was he the Kyuubi or a demon so he decided that everyone who said otherwise was just a jerk who wasn't worth his time. They ignored him, well he would ignore them.

Waking up at around 7am he had plenty of time to think about the things he wanted to buy today. At first he wanted to buy lots of ramen but then he remembered his promise to become the world's best shinobi and to do that he would need equipment and decent clothes. So that's what he decided to buy.

Finally he would be able to get rid of that orange jumpsuit. Not that he hated the color orange, but it was a large risk for a shinobi to wear bright colors. How was he supposed to hide from his enemies while wearing an orange jumpsuit. So he needed some new cool clothes. So he patiently waited for the time were he would have to leave to meet with the hokage. He was a bit nervous though. He didn't want to cause trouble after all. Well, maybe a little trouble would be fun but too much trouble would be bad.

Walking to the Hokage tower he didn't meet anyone he knew so he just kept walking ignoring some crude remarks. Though he was used to them about now they still hurt him when he heard them but he had decided to ignore the fools who treated him badly so that's what he did. Arriving at the tower he went straight to his Ji-chan's office. Hearing the call to come in he quickly opened the door and entered the room.

"Ah Naruto, right on time I see, very good." Sandaime said. He was a little surprised to see Naruto right on time but he supposed that Naruto was very excited to go shopping so he understood. Taking his hat form his desk he walked toward Naruto and guided him into the hallway where he told his secretary that he would be unavailable for the morning. She nodded and bid him a nice morning.

"So are you ready Naruto? What do you need? Don't worry about the money I have it right here." Sandaime said to an very hyper Naruto.

"Well, I need some new clothes, can't be a ninja with orange clothes so that's what I want to do first if that's alright with you. After that it depends how much money I have left. If have enough left than I would like to buy a new set of kunai and shuriken." Naruto told him.

Sandaime nodded and started to lead the way towards the shinobi Centrum of town. Naruto had been there a few times but never to actually buy something. All his other stuff came from second hand stores which were cheaper. So he was really lucky the Hokage wanted to accompany him. Seeing his adopted grandson happy smile warmed Sarutobi heart more than anything these past years. Sure his actual grandson made him smile too off but Naruto's smile was so much more special to him since it was a true smile and not the fake smile of his mask that he put on every day.

Arriving at the shop where he knew that Naruto would be treated right he had a small smile of anticipation on his face. He wondered how Naruto would react when he saw a true shinobi store. Getting Naruto's attention and showing him the way in he quickly turned around to see the look on Naruto 's face. He wasn't disappointed at all. Naruto's face showed a look of wonder and astonishment, you read his thoughts without trying.

"Wow!" was the only word that came out of Naruto's mouth but his face said the rest and that was more than enough for the shopkeeper and Sandaime to softly laugh at Naruto.

Naruto looked inside the large store and saw row's upon row's of shinobi equipment from simple clothes to shuriken and kunai. A large section of the store was reserved for equipment like katana, knives, weights and much more stuff some of which he didn't even know the name of. He felt like he could get lost in this place and probably could spend hours looking at everything he didn't know or had heard about but never seen. For a young genin like himself this truly was the place to be, there was no doubt about it.

Seeing that Naruto was lost in his own little world Sarutobi went to greet his old time friend Masohiro Hideki. They had fought together in the war when they were still very young and had a mutual respect for each other. Hideki was one of the few persons who actually had permission to call him Sarutobi instead of Hokage-sama.

"Hello Hideki-san how are you this morning?" asked Sarutobi.

"I'm doing very well Hokage-sama. Thank you for asking." Replied Hideki.

"Hideki-san, how many times have I told you to address me by my name instead of my title?" Sarutobi asked jokingly.

"Now one more time than last time, Sarutobi-san." Hideki answered cheekily.

Naruto who had stopped staring at all the things in the store now stood beside the Sandaime looking amazed at the conversation. Nobody he knew so far addressed his Ji-chan by his name and got away with it.

"Naruto, I would like you to meet an old time friend and one of the best shinobi I have ever had the privilege to fight side by side with, Hideki-san. Hideki-san this is Uzumaki Naruto, a young academy graduate looking for a new look and equipment." The Sandaime hokage said introducing them to each other.

Naruto quickly showed his respects to the man and introduced himself. Hideki looked at him and smiled saying it was a pleasure to meet him. Now once again Naruto was amazed. Clearly this man knew about the Kyuubi but he treated Naruto like he was just an everyday customer.

"Well, young Naruto tell what you're looking for and I'll help you along the way." Hideki kindly offered.

"Well sir, I would need pants, shirts, shoes and the like. I would like them to be durable and in dark colors if possible. If I have enough money left I would also like a set of new kunai and shuriken." Naruto said looking at Hideki.

"Very well, no problem with that. I have everything you need. Well let's get busy shall we? First pants and shirts. Would you like long pants or shorts? How about the shirts, should they have long sleeves, short sleeves or no sleeves?" Hideki asked Naruto.

"Long pants, sleeveless shirt please." Naruto confirmed. He could always wear an extra jacket in case he needed one. Now he was here he could buy it at the same time. He also wanted gloves that would protect his hands and fingers.

"Do you have gloves available sir? Not fingerless gloves but normal ones? And do you have shoes that cover the whole foot instead of exposing the normal sandals? Also If possible I would like a Jounin style vest." Naruto asked Hideki who was picking out pants and shirts.

"Looks like young Naruto knows what he wants isn't it Sarutobi-san? Sure thing kid, I got all those things you asked for. No worries. Why don't go look for a vest and shoes you like while I get you a pair of pants and shirts." Hideki said with a smile on his face.

Some short minutes later Naruto came back with a pair of shoe's which had a steel tip that protect his foot but that would also inflict lots of damage to an enemy shinobi when kicked. Naruto never understood why almost every shinobi wore sandals. Must be some tradition he mused. His vest was a black version of a Jounin vest. It was made out of Kevlar and offered protection against kunai and shuriken. It also had several pockets for storage use. While Naruto had been out choosing his stuff Hideki had picked out some pants and shirts for Naruto to try on. After a few minutes Naruto chose a pair black pants and a pair of sleeveless dark blue shirts. He also had found the gloves he wanted. Just like his vest the gloves were made out of Kevlar and would offer some protection for his fingers and hands. Looking at himself in the mirror he could help but think that he just made his first step towards achieving his goals.

While Naruto and Hideki were busy Sarutobi was looking for a present for Naruto. He felt that Naruto deserved some help and being Hokage was a well paid job so he didn't mind spoiling Naruto a little. He found a nice set of 10 kunai and shuriken which he knew Naruto would be very happy with so that's what he decided to buy.

Naruto who didn't know how much a B-rank mission paid exactly went over to ask his Ji-chan about it. Maybe he still had some money left to buy some extra equipment. That would be so cool he thought.

"Ji-chan , just how much is the pay for a B-rank mission? I forgot to ask. Do you think I have enough to buy all these clothes?" Naruto asked a little worried.

Sarutobi who hadn't seen Naruto change into his new outfit looked at Naruto and he could see the making of an incredible shinobi. The clothes Naruto picked out were made for him. They fitted nicely but did not cling to him. All in all he looked like a strong shinobi to be.

"You have nothing to worry about Naruto. A B-rank missions pay about 750$ so you have more than enough to buy all these clothes. And you should not worry about a new kunai and shuriken set because I'm giving them to you as a present for graduating. So you still have lots of money left but I would advise you to put some of it away in case of an emergency later." Sandaime explained to Naruto.

"Really a present? For me? Wow, thank you Ji-chan you're the best. But wasn't the money also a gift? If it is I can't accept another present Ji-chan. And I didn't know missions paid that much " Naruto said.

Sarutobi looked at Naruto and explained that the money wasn't a gift but is was rightfully his since he defeated a traitor and returned a important scroll. So the village paid for the B-rank. He also explained the way the mission ranking worked and how much each type of mission paid. So with still lots of money to spend and a large part to put aside for a rainy day, Naruto asked for advice on what he should need or buy.

"Well, I always found sealing scrolls very useful. You can seal lots of stuff inside and because it's just a scroll it's easy to carry around. Very useful if you have to take long term missions, no need to carry a large backpack just seal everything In scroll or two and you're done." Hideki offered some advice on what to buy.

Naruto immediately liked the idea of sealing scrolls. He thought it was a very good idea to have some of those. He could already see the use of them. He didn't have much things but some things he didn't want stolen or destroyed so by sealing them and carrying the scroll with him his possessions were safe. He bought 5 of them since they weren't really expensive. After having being explained how to use them he also bought some explosive tags which he also wanted to try one day.

After thanking Hideki for about five minutes he was told that he was always welcome in the shop so Naruto promised that he would definitely come back and buy stuff. Naruto and Sandaime left the shop and went back towards the tower where they would have lunch together. Naruto had some questions about training and Sandaime had promised to answer them the best he could.

When they reached the tower Sarutobi told his secretary that he was not to be disturbed until after lunch. She quickly nodded showing she understood and went back to organizing a pile of paperwork that had to be processed later that afternoon. Seeing the amount of work he would have to do later Sarutobi almost told her that he would not be available for the rest of the day but he knew that if he did he would how twice as much work to do tomorrow. So he sighed slightly and went into his office with Naruto closely following him. After a quick lunch Sarutobi told Naruto that he could ask his questions now. Naruto promptly started.

"Okay, I have several of them. First, why is it that I can perform the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu so easily but I can't do the normal Bunshin No Jutsu? What should I focus on? Should I focus on learning ninjustu or taijutsu? Also I really don't like the academy taijutsu style. Aren't there other styles I can learn? Can you teach me?" Naruto fired question after question towards his Ji-chan.

Sarutobi smiled and began to answer Naruto's question.

"Okay Naruto one question at a time. I believe the reasons why you can do the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu so easily because you have a massive amount of chakra. The Kage Bunshin No Jutsu requires that while the normal Bunshin No Jutsu only needs a small amount of chakra. Now because of your massive amount of chakra you're chakra control is bad. This is normal so don't worry. All you have to do is practice your chakra control and you'll be fine.

Now for your other questions, I would suggest you to practice your chakra control before everything else. The reasons is that if you have good control learning new jutsu's will be much easier. Also good control means that you won't waste chakra when you do a jutsu. Now for your taijutsu, it's possible that this style isn't suited for you. That sometimes happens, so you'll have to learn some other style. Unfortunately I can't teach you, not because I don't want to but because that would show favoritism which I will not allow, not by myself or others. I hope you understand. But there is a way to study all of this without my help." Sandaime patiently told Naruto.

Naruto looked somewhat disappointed but wondered what the other way was. He thought about it but couldn't find a way.

Sarutobi seeing Naruto didn't quite understood what he was trying to say explained to him that now that he had graduated from the academy he could access the shinobi part of the Konoha library. There he would find several books on chakra control and much more. Of course, the really good stuff was not stored in the library but inside a special library which was only accessible to Jounin level shinobi but for basic stuff the Konoha library would be enough.

"So you're saying that if I go to the library and look for books or scroll on chakra control and taijutsu I could find what I'm looking for?" Naruto asked wearily.

Sandaime nodded and told Naruto that he would have to come see him the day after tomorrow to meet his Jounin sensei. This confused Naruto slightly because he thought they would be put into 3 man teams. When he asked about it, Sarutobi told him that Naruto was a special case because they had already made the teams the afternoon of graduation. So now they had one genin that didn't have a team. Seeing his dejected face Sarutobi told Naruto that his sensei had especially asked for him and that he should be very glad because his sensei was very strong. After hearing that Naruto's mood went up and he happily left the office thanking his Ji-chan again for the great gift and day.

He quickly went to Iruka's house but seeing Iruka wasn't home he decided to pay a visit to the library. If you had told Naruto a couple of days ago that he would be eager to visit the library he would have laughed at you and telling that there was no way he would ever go there. But now that he knew about the shinobi section he was kind of excited to see all those books.

Arriving at his destination he quickly entered ignoring the looks he got from the lady at the desk. Since he had graduated she couldn't forbid him from entering anyway. So he went all the way to the shinobi section looking for some books or scroll that could help him out with his chakra control problem. Seeing the large amount of books and scrolls he sighed knowing this would take some time. Suddenly he remembered about how he could use the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to help him. He looked around and seeing he was alone he quickly made 3 clones and ordered them to help looking. Each one of them went to a different shelf and started their search.

After about 10 minutes Naruto had found a book on sealing which at first he disregarded but then he remembered those useful sealing scroll he bought earlier that day. This could be an interesting subject to study so he decided to put it aside. After that he didn't find anything remotely useful to him. Suddenly he heard a clone yelling that he had found a book on chakra control and several exercises for improving your control. He made his way over to the clone and looked at the book in front of him. The title read 'Chakra control, how to have it?'. It was just what he needed so he took an empty scroll and a pencil out of his pouch and told the clone to start copying down the exercises. The clone nodded and started scribbling everything down.

Naruto however went looking for the other clones and found them still searching for something useful. As the clones would call if they found something, Naruto told one clone to start copying the book on sealing and dismissed the remaining clone then he went to look for some books about taijutsu. After 10 min he gave up, there was nothing in the shinobi section about taijutsu except the style they taught at the academy. On an impulse he decided to search in the civilian section, maybe there were civilians who wanted to study taijutsu of some form just for fun. Quickly finding the right shelf he looked around and found what he was looking for. Several books on something called 'martial arts'. Taking a closer look he saw that it was exactly what he was looking for. The book had pictures that showed how to move, it had diagrams with several kata's that he could practice. He selected two book called 'Taekwondo' and 'Aikido'. They were listed as really old fighting styles that nobody really used anymore but that was perfect in Naruto's opinion. Since they weren't used much anymore they would be unpredictable or so he hoped. He went to the reception desk and gave them to the lady so he could borrow them. Shinobi scroll or books couldn't leave the library but since these books were from the civilian section there wasn't any problem. After getting his books he went to see his clones that were copying everything down. One clone had just about finished copying the different exercises for chakra control and the other clone had copied the first 4 chapters of the sealing book. Satisfied he dismissed them and put the scroll in his pocket and left the library.

Since it was still pretty early in the afternoon he decided that he might as well start practicing on his chakra control and his taijutsu. He went to the clearing where he had learned the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu and got ready. Still remembering what he had learned about the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu he prepared to make about 30 clones. Seconds later there were 31 Naruto's standing in the clearing.

"Alright listen up. I want you guys to make 3 groups of 10 clones. Group one will be with me practicing chakra control. Group 2 will take the book on Taekwondo and start on that. And group 3 will start on the Aikido book. Go!" he ordered his small army of clones.

They quickly divided and went to a free spot in the clearing. Naruto took his copies out of his pocket and started reading. He realized that the book was a little more advanced than he first had thought but in the end he didn't really care. Reading about treewalking he got really excited. He didn't know such a thing was possible. This would be so cool. After reading how it was supposed to be done he told his clones and they each picked out a tree. The book said that instead of immediately starting to run up the tree it was better to first to lay down in front of it and placing his feet onto the tree. Then concentrating the necessary chakra into his feet so he would stick onto the tree. So that's what he and his clones did.

While he was doing that the other 2 groups of clones were busy reading about the martial art style he had chosen to learn. Taekwondo was an offensive style that focused on kicks and punches while Aikido was a defensive style using the movements and strength of the opponent to grab, hold or throw the opponent. Each group started practicing the various moves like ordered.

After about an hour of trying to stick onto the tree with his feet Naruto and his clone got confident that they could do it. So Naruto decided to try his luck. He took some distance and ran towards the tree while focusing chakra to his feet. The clones watched as their boss reached the tree, they saw him make 5 steps up the tree before he came crashing down. Then they started laughing at his misfortune. Naruto scolded at them but told them to start practicing instead of laughing their ass off at his expense.

After hours of practicing Naruto and his clones made it to about halfway up the tree. It was getting dark so he told himself that this was enough for today. He got up and looked at his clones still practicing their different assignments.

"Alright that's enough for today. I want you guys to dispel group per group. First group 1, then 2 and 3." Naruto said.

Nodding group 1 dispelled themselves and a rush of information into his brain made Naruto a little disoriented. He didn't know that would happen but it was over in about 2 seconds. Immediately he felt that his control had gone up. He looked at the tree and started running towards it. Reaching it he just kept running onto it without any problem. He went halfway up the tree and stood there as if it he had been doing it for years. He was amazed, when he dispelled the clones their experience transferred to him and this made treewalking so much easier than before. The Kage Bunshin No Jutsu truly was an amazing Jutsu. Reaching the ground again he dispelled group 2 and 3 and once again gained the things they had learned. He now knew several of the basic moves of both styles and he realized this would take much more time than treewalking to master all the moves and kata's but he had time so he didn't mind.

After a quick lunch at Ichiraku's he went to sleep with a smile on his face feeling very proud and content about the things he had learnt today.

* * *

Next chapter : Naruto and Anko meet for the first time and he learns about the training he will be doing. 


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting Sensei

I don't own Naruto. I wish I did I would burn that orange disaster Kishimoto calls clothes first chance I got.

To all the people who reviewed:

Thank you all very much. It is really appreciated. Hope you continue to read my story.

Note on this chapter: This is in my opinion a short chapter and I apologize for it. The reason I made it a little short was that in chapter 4 training really begins and I wanted to make sure that there wouldn't be 10 chapters of training. Personally I like stories were the training reach a few chapter but too much is too much if you know what I mean.

Chapter 3: Meeting sensei

Naruto nervously made his way towards the Hokage tower to meet his new sensei. He was really curious who his sensei would be, what he/she would be like, hopefully they will get along. He made a promise to be on his best behavior so he could make a good impression.

Yesterday he had spent the whole day practicing the treewalking exercise and the basic movement of het taijutsu styles he had chosen to learn. Treewalking was going really well in his own opinion. Yesterday he had succeeded in walking up and down the tree for about 2 hours without falling down. He was pretty much sure that he had almost mastered that part of the chakra control exercises. Next would be the walking on water exercises according to his scroll. He really wanted to try that one but he made himself promise to do one thing at a time so he was sure the master the basics.

Greeting the lady at the desk he said he was expected to meet his sensei here today. She looked into the reservation book and saw his name marked down. She told him he was right on time and that he could see the hokage. So Naruto knocked and waited for the call to enter. Hearing permission to enter he quickly opened the door and went inside.

"Ah Naruto, good morning. How have you been?" Sandaime asked smiling at seeing Naruto.

"Hey Ji-chan I'm fine thanks. How are you? I've been great. I went to the library just like you said and found this book on tree walking and water walking. It was really interesting. I almost got the tree walking exercise mastered. I practiced a lot yesterday." Naruto told in a voice full of pride.

Sarutobi was surprised to say the least, tree walking was not a easy thing to learn. More so to learn from a book, that was really a job well done.

"Well done Naruto, I'm really proud of you. To master it so fast you must have practiced really hard. Have you found something on Taijutsu?" Sandaime congratulated Naruto.

Eager to impress his Ji-chan he told all about his trip to the library, the things he had found and his training the day before. Just when he was about to tell about planning the water walking exercise somebody knocked on the door. Knowing that this was probably his sensei Naruto quickly quieted down and looked at his Ji-chan.

"Enter." Sarutobi called out.

The door opened and a young woman entered the office. Naruto gulped and turned his head so he could see just what his sensei looked like. First thing he noticed was that his sensei was a very beautiful young woman. She wore a brown trench coat, a short dark brown skirt above a fishnet cloth which covered the rest of her body. She had a look of pure mischief in her eyes and her hair was a shade of purple that really looked great on her. All in all Naruto had to say he found her very beautiful.

"Good morning Hokage-sama" the young woman said slightly bowing to show her respect.

"Ah, good morning Anko-san. Glad to see you in such good spirits. I would like to introduce you to your young student. Anko, this is Uzumaki Naruto." Sandaime said.

"Naruto, I would like you to meet your Jounin sensei Mitarashi Anko." Sandaime said introducing Anko to Naruto.

Naruto jumped up from his chair and formally introduced himself to his teacher which she did as well.

"Well, since I have lots of work to do today I'm sure the 2 of you can get to know each other better on your own. Naruto, listen to your sensei. She's a very accomplished kunoichi and will teach you a lot. I will see you soon okay?" Sandaime said while dismissing the both of them.

Student and teacher nodded their goodbye and stepped into the hallway.

"Well gaki, let's go some place where we can get to know each other. I know, let's go to the clearing you practiced in yesterday. Hope you can keep up gaki because if you're more than 5 minutes late there will be hell to pay" Anko said with a slightly sadistic smile.

Naruto wondered how she knew where he trained but hearing something about hell to pay if he was late he quickly followed his sensei hoping he could keep up with her. When he arrived at the clearing he was out of breath and panting very much but he had made just in time. Anko looked at him with a look that said 'well done, you're in time'. She sat down and motioned to Naruto to do the same.

"Now, I'm sure you have questions about almost everything but before that we'll take some time to talk with each other okay? Well, I'll go first. As you know now my name is Mitarashi Anko, I'm 24 years old and I specialize in assassination and interrogation. My favorite food is dango and green bean tea. This is the first time I accepted to teach so it's going to be new to both of us. Okay your turn." Anko finished with her part of the introduction.

"Eh, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. I'm 13 years old and just finished the academy. My favorite food is ramen from Ichiraku's. My hobbies used to be playing pranks and causing trouble but since I graduated I made the promise to become the greatest shinobi in all the lands so now I'm training to reach that goal. My likes are my precious people and my dislikes are the people who treat me bad. My dreams are to make my parents and Sandaime Ji-chan proud , to become the best shinobi and finally to become hokage myself." Naruto said with conviction.

Anko nodded seeming to be very satisfied with Naruto's introduction. She looked at him and couldn't be more happy that he got rid of his orange colored jumpsuit. His new outfit suited him and it looked stylish and professional.

"Very good, I'm sure we will get along fine. Now I'm going to answer any questions you may have as long if I have the answers. If I don't know the answer I will get back to you on that question when I do have an answer." Anko told Naruto.

"eh, ok that's fine. My first question would be why did you accept to teach me? Secondly what will you teach me? Will we do missions? Assassination and interrogation sounds cool but will I have to learn those as well?" Naruto quickly asked his questions.

"Those are very good questions Naruto. Let's see, the reason I accepted to teach you is because you and I are a lot alike. I will not tell you the full story yet since that's very personal but let's say that like you I'm not very well liked by a large part of Konoha. Also I have seen you train from time to time and I can see a lot of potential so it would be a shame if we didn't train you to be the best shinobi you can be.

What I will teach you will depend on you. What I mean is that we will work on the things you need the most. When those things are learned we will focus on things you would like to learn. Now mind you I'm not an all knowing person so some things you'll have to learn on your own but I will help where I can.

Now concerning missions we won't do any of those for a least six months. Before you start protesting I'm doing this so we can use these month to fully devote them to training. You will see the logic in this soon enough. Where we will train is a surprise." Anko said answering Naruto's questions.

Naruto who was about to start protesting about the no missions thing quickly shut up and started thinking. Six month of pure training would allow him to become stronger and more advanced so that was not a bad idea. Beside he had heard about the so called missions genins were forced to do. Learning and studying what he wanted with his teacher's help sounded really cool so that was okay too. In the end he couldn't see any faults in his teacher's words so he quickly nodded showing his agreement.

"Glad you agree Naruto, I promise that you won't regret it. Now yesterday I saw you training using the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. Can you explain me why? By the way nice work on the tree walking exercise. Very well done." Anko asked.

"Well, before I kicked Mizuki's ass I had learned the jutsu from the forbidden scroll and the scroll had some instructions that said that everything a Kage Bunshin learns the caster learns as well. So I made enough clones and told them to separate in groups and practice. That way training and learning goes much faster and I can learn several things at the same time." Naruto explained to Anko.

Now this was new to Anko. That the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu had such an effect was amazing to her. It would open new possibilities for training Naruto and even for her own training. Never would she have thought such a thing was possible. She could already imagine the sort of training she would have to make for Naruto. This promised to be even more exciting than she originally thought.

"Amazing. I didn't know this was possible but I can see the advantage in using this jutsu. This is going to be very useful. I also saw you practicing two different styles of taijutsu that I have never seen before, what are they?" Anko continued.

"Well, the academy style of taijutsu never worked well for me and since I don't have a family taijutsu style like others I looked in the library but I didn't find any taijutsu book in the shinobi section. I guess people want to keep their family taijutsu a secret. But I found these book in the civilian section. They're ancient style that nobody uses anymore. So I found them interesting because they would be unpredictable and unknown to most shinobi." Naruto said explaining his reasons to learn those styles.

'This is the so called dead last of his class? These are very well outthought decisions. He analyzed his options and came to a very accurate solution. Those idiots at the academy just didn't see this boy's potential. Well, I make sure that they regret not looking underneath the underneath.' Anko mused hearing Naruto finishing his explanation.

"Well done Naruto. You certainly picked out some very useful and powerful taijutsu styles. If you can master them you'll be a force to be reckoned with. Now, let me explain some things about the training we'll be doing in the next six months." Anko said.

Naruto who was slightly blushing from all the praise he got from his sensei listened very carefully to what his sensei was about to say. She told him that they would leave the village for six months to a place so would show tomorrow. Then she proceeded to tell him a raw form of training schedule which they would be able to change when necessary. The first two months they would focus on his chakra control and his taijutsu since these two things needed the most work right now. The following two months would be dedicated to ninjutsu training and some weapon training. In the final two months of training they would focus on mission training and the likes. On top of all that he would be free to study anything he wanted but only after they finished the training for the day. Anko would also teach him about the several shinobi clan's in Konoha. Every month she would report his progress to the Sandaime so he would know what they were working on.

Naruto nodded knowing this was going to be intense but the more he thought about it the more excited he became. After these six months he would defiantly be much stronger than ever. He couldn't wait to start.

"Alright, that's it for today gaki. Prepare yourself because tomorrow your training starts. You might want to go say goodbye to Hokage-sama and Iruka since you won't see them for six months. I'll meet you at the main gate tomorrow morning at 6am. Bring everything you think you might need. Don't worry about books or stuff like that I will be able to get those for you when I make my report to Hokage-sama each month. See you tomorrow and don't be late got it?" Anko said before leaving.

Naruto nodded promising he would be on time and bid her goodbye. Thinking that saying goodbye to his precious people wasn't a bad idea he went back to the village where he started searching for Iruka. Finding him at his home, he quickly explained everything and told Iruka that they would meet in six months time. Iruka wished him a successful training and told him he would look forward to see how strong Naruto had become in those six months. Naruto promptly challenged Iruka to a sparring match when he got back. Iruka accepted laughing at Naruto's challenge.

Next he went to Ichiraku's, while he was there he had several bowls of ramen knowing he probably wouldn't have the chance the chance to eat ramen for six long months. The owner of Ichiraku and his daughter wished him well and told him that they would miss him very much. He then went to say goodbye to his Ji-chan who also wished him well and told him to study hard so he could become Hokage.

"Hurry up and become strong Naruto. I can't stand this amount of paperwork anymore. It's driving me nuts." Sandaime said laughing to Naruto.

Naruto laughed as well and while leaving asked why Sandaime didn't use the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to do paperwork. Sarutobi stood there looking at the closed door shocked beyond belief that Naruto had given him the solution to one of him biggest problems. He also berated himself for not thinking about this years ago. Telling himself that he would reward Naruto when he came back he quickly used the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to make several clones and attacked the remaining paperwork for the day.

Next on chapter 4: Training begins.

Naruto and Anko start their six month during training and Naruto surprise Anko with his progress and learn a little about Naruto's time at the academy.


	4. Chapter 4: Training begins

I don't own Naruto, if I did Sasuke would get his ass kicked every few chapters.

To all the people who reviewed:

Thank you all so much. I like reading your comments (good and bad) about my story. Please do not be afraid to tell me if you have a negative comment, as long as you tell and write it in a respectful way I don't have any problem with them.

Now I think I need to explain something about the story. Even when Naruto while be training for six months he will not be a super strong Naruto. He will be stronger than in the manga or anime but he won't be all powerful.

Next thing I need to explain is that the timeframe is different than original. In my story the time between the genin graduation exam and the Chuunin exam will be 1 year. So Naruto will be entering the Chuunin exam with the rest of the Rookie Nine. I did this because I find it hard to believe that genin who only did a few missions (for so far we have seen in the manga and anime) would be allowed to participate in a exam that requires both experience and strength. Chuunin are supposed to be able to lead a team but none of them were ready for that kind of responsibility in my eyes. So that's why I changed the timeframe in this story.

Chapter 4: Training begins

Naruto woke up at 5am feeling a little nervous about the start of his training but he had a good feeling about his sensei. She looked strict but fair and he was sure that she would teach him a lot of things. He had everything packed last night. He sealed almost everything of value into his storage scrolls so they wouldn't get stolen or damaged by some hateful burglar. He packed all his new clothes, his new shuriken and kunai set (he also took his old ones just to be sure), he packed the copy he had made of the sealing book since he really wanted to learn about sealing. At 5h40am he closed the door, locked it and went towards the main gate without looking back. He arrived with almost 10 minutes to spare so his sensei would be pleased.

Anko who had also said goodbye to some friends woke up with a splitting headache. She went to see her best friend Yuuhi Kurenai and told her about Naruto and how she would be training him. She also told her how much she had learned about Naruto just by spending a few hours with him. Kurenai was glad to see her friend happy and excited for the first time in a long time. Though she didn't personally know Naruto, she never hated him for carrying the Kyuubi. She privately thought that Naruto really was a hero in his own way and she respected him for never giving in to the hate. After talking and drinking the whole night Anko went home knowing she would have to get up early. So when she arrived at the main gate at 5h59 am her headache still hadn't disappeared which made her a little irritated. Seeing Naruto standing there looking all fresh and eager to start she couldn't help but think that maybe it wasn't a good idea of her to meet this early.

"Alright gaki, let's go. Oh, some advice you might want to remember. Never drink too much sake when you have to get up before noon. You'll regret it just like I am now." Anko said softly trying not to worsen her headache by talking loudly.

Naruto nodded with a small smile and followed his sensei. He really didn't understand grownups and their likes of alcohol. What was so good about alcohol anyway? After some time they reached a huge fence with a gate which was locked with a huge lock. Anko stopped in front of the gate, reached into her backpack, pulled out some sort of weird key and opened the gate.

"This, gaki is the Forest of Death. It's a very dangerous place for people to be in. It's also one of my favorite playing grounds. There are 44 gates like this one so you can imagine how big this place is. The whole forest is divided into several areas. We will stay in an area that is relatively safe. Once inside we'll head out east where there's a good place to camp. Alright? Follow me." Anko motioned Naruto to follow her.

They travelled for about 4 hours until they came at the place Anko mentioned earlier on. There was a small river, a large open place suited for training and a cave where they could sleep sheltered from rain and wind. Anko went inside the cave and dropped her backpack and took out a scroll and pencil before coming back out of the cave into the clearing. She motioned to Naruto to come and sit next to her.

"Alright, yesterday I sort of explained how we would divide these next six months. Like I said the first two months we'll be focusing on chakra control and taijutsu training. The day starts at 6am, at that time you will start with stretching and some running. Then at 7am we'll have breakfast till 7h30am. Following breakfast you'll make as much clones as you can and order halve of them to practice tree walking and water walking, the other halve will work on taijutsu kata's. During that time you and I will spar using the styles you have chosen. After lunch we'll work on stealth and tracking methods, making traps and human anatomy. After that you're free to study or practice what you want and I'll help you however much I can. Sounds okay to you?" Anko finished explaining.

Naruto quickly agreed saying he couldn't wait to get started on all this interesting stuff. Anko chuckled pleased that he didn't have any comment or remarks on the training schedule she had made the night before. Since it was almost time for lunch she decided to let Naruto catch some fish that they could prepare over a fire. Naruto who had never been camping before eagerly went over to the river to try and catch some fish. Anko smiled when she looked at him having fun trying to catch a fish.

After lunch she asked him what kind of things he would like to learn while they were here. It was better that she knew beforehand so she could prepare to help him in any way.

"Well, I really want to learn about sealing, the sealing scrolls I bought at Hideki-san's store are really useful and he told me that you can do a lot of things with seals so I really want to learn about that. Also I saw this really cool katana but since I don't know how to use it I didn't buy it but I think I would like to learn how to use one. What I also want to learn is how to make a jutsu. I know that there are a lot of jutsu but learning to make my own would be so cool. Since I don't have any family jutsu to learn I would like to start making Uzumaki family jutsu's so that I can teach them to my kids later. I want to make the Uzumaki name known throughout the world." Naruto said.

Anko whistled at some of the things Naruto wanted to learn. Sealing and jutsu making were a field of study that could take years. When she told him that Naruto just shrugged and told her that he would do it anyway. He reminded her that he had hundreds of clones at his disposal to help with the studying. Seeing the truth in that statement she told him that she would try to get him some books on both topics. Since she was a Jounin she had access to the shinobi library in the Hokage tower. She was sure that she could find some interesting books for him. The rest of the afternoon they talked about several things like how to become a Jounin, how the missions worked and so on.

The next morning Naruto got up at 5h30am and got ready to start training. He woke up Anko like he was told to although she hadn't told him about the fact that she wasn't a morning person. His jaw still hurt when he left the cave. So at 6am he started stretching and after that he did a large number of laps around the clearing like Anko ordered him to. This would build up stamina which was necessary when fighting for a longer time. After breakfast he made about 100 clones. Anko ordered them to divide into four groups and assigned each group to a task. Group 1 got tree walking, group 2 got water walking, group 3 got Taekwondo and group 4 went on to Aikido training.

While the clones started their assignment Naruto and Anko started sparring. Anko taught him that there was a difference between punching someone and hitting someone. Punching someone meant that he aimed at a specific part of the human body. For example the throat, solar plexus, groin (Naruto winced at that one while Anko smiled) and several other places of the human body. The exercise was that she would call out a place for him to target and then he would have to try to hit her. After that the roles would change and she would attack and he would have to defend. Needless to say that when the training was over Naruto had several bruises and ached all over.

"I know it hurts now Naruto but soon you will be able to stop all these attacks without even trying. It will become an automatic reaction to protect those places. When you'll be able to do that than we will start on actual sparring." Anko tried to explain to a hurting Naruto.

"I know but it doesn't change the fact that it hurts." Naruto answered cheekily. Maybe he should add medical jutsu to the list. Although he always healed fast now that he thought about it.

This time it was Anko who took care of diner. She had caught 2 rabbits and started to prepare them. Naruto watched as she skinned the rabbit, started to remove the insides. He asked if he could have the skin which he planned to safe to make some warm clothes or something for the winter. Anko agreed with this sort of planning and happily allowed Naruto to keep the rabbit skin. After dinner Naruto started to read up on his notes on sealing and Anko started reading his Aikido book.

So everyday Anko and Naruto trained together and Naruto was making excellent progress on his chakra control. After a week of water walking and tree walking Anko told him that he had sufficiently mastered those two exercises. She proceeded to teach him a more advanced way of practicing chakra control. She told him to take a kunai and place it in the palm of his hand, then he was to focus his chakra in a way that would lift the kunai in the air and keep it there for a period of time. At first his kunai went up in the air but after a few seconds his kunai would start moving toward the left or the right and fall down on the ground. After figuring out that he was supposed to move his chakra in such a way that his kunai remained in the middle of his hand things got slightly better. Several days of practicing later he managed to keep the kunai in the air for as long as he wanted. Then Anko told him the next step in this exercise. He was told that he now had to make the kunai spin above his palm without letting it fall. This proved to be very tricky and it took him about a week of nonstop practicing with lots of clones to master it but in the end it was well worth it. When he showed Anko that he mastered the exercise she told him that this was something a high level chuunin was supposed to learn if he wanted to become a Jounin. Naruto beamed with pride at accomplishing such a difficult exercise when he was just a beginning genin. Anko did tell him not to get arrogant just because of that and that he had plenty of other things he should continue to work on. Naruto quickly sobered up after that comment.

His taijutsu had gone very well, just as Anko had told him he now could defend the most vulnerable parts of his body without thinking about it. He did it without thinking and more than once he was glad that he could. Anko was unforgiving in her taijutsu training, she pushed him to the limit and beyond every time they sparred but the results were great. Anko had also started learning Taekwondo and Aikido with Naruto. Just like Naruto she could see the strong points of both styles. By combining the 2 styles you got a taijutsu style that was offensive as defensive. Although Anko almost always won when they fought, Naruto was quickly catching up to her. She found that out in a sparring match when she underestimated him, he had managed to grab her by the wrist, twitching it in a way that left her no other way than give up unless she wanted him to break her wrist.

As for Naruto's private studying of seals things were progressing as well, albeit much slower than he wanted to but that was because he only had the first 4 chapter of the book he had found in the library. So after 2 week of studying he was out of material to work with. The first 4 chapters only dealt with an introduction, an overview of the most common use of seals and the first steps on how to make a seal. Unfortunately he had no chart of seals he could use, so he didn't know how several seals looked like which stopped his studying right at that point. But since Anko had to report to the Hokage tomorrow, she would stop by the Jounin library and pick up some textbook on sealing and jutsu making.

"Well gaki, this end the first month and I'm very proud to say you have made some excellent progress. Your chakra control has improved to the level of a high level chuunin, your taijutsu has come a long way and your stealth and tracking knowledge is on par with a mid level genin. It could still use some work but you're doing great." Anko said with a proud voice showing Naruto that she meant every word.

"Thank you sensei. I owe it all thanks to your help and training. Thanks to you I'm on my way to becoming the best shinobi in all the lands." Naruto said sincerely.

"Don't mention it gaki. I have learnt a lot as well. I enjoyed our first month here and I'm looking forward to the next five months. Now is there something you would like beside books on sealing and jutsu making? Might as well take advantage while I'm there." Anko said.

Naruto thought for a few seconds and remembered something that he had been thinking about for a few days. A few days ago one of his old kunai broke when he was hunting for lunch. He thought that if he knew how to forge weapons himself he would be able to repair of make his own weapons.

"Well, if you insist. Could you look on a book on how to forge weapons? You know, to learn how to make your own kunai or something like that." Naruto asked Anko.

Anko told him she would look if they had book on that subject but she wasn't sure that she would find book like that. Naruto told her about Hideki-san and his shop and that maybe Hideki-san would know where to find books on that subject. Anko said that was a possibility and said she would pay a visit to the man.

After a good night sleep Anko told Naruto to practice on his own for that day while she went to the village to give her report. She guessed she would be back by the time it got dark. Naruto promised he would train like every other day and went out to start his stretching and running exercises.

Anko left shortly after waving goodbye and started to make towards the village. Since she didn't have to slow down her pace so Naruto would be able to follow she went full speed and made it to the village in just less than 2h30 hours. She went straight to the Hokage tower knowing that the Sandaime would be curious to hear her report. Arriving at the tower she went inside greeting the girl at the front desk and telling her she had an appointment with the Hokage. After checking her book the girl told her to go on ahead. Anko nodded and went towards the Hokage's office. She knocked on the door and hearing permission to go in she opened the door and went inside.

"Ah Anko-san, how have you been? I was wondering when I would see you today. Please have a seat." Sarutobi said to Anko.

Anko nodded and took a seat in front of the Hokage. Seeing a curious look on the man's face she immediately started giving her report.

"Good morning sir, I'm fine thank you very much. How are you? I can tell you want to hear about Naruto and his training." Anko said trying to tease the man a little bit.

"I'm fine thank you and yes I'm very curious to hear how the first month of Naruto's training has been. So don't tease an old man and tell him what he wants to know." Sarutobi said smiling.

"Very well sir. You'll be glad to hear that Naruto's training has been going better than I ever suspected. At first I had expected to report that his chakra control and taijutsu would have advanced to a genin level but I'm very proud to say that Naruto has surpassed all of my expectations. Thanks to his use of the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu his chakra control has reached what I believe to be high chuunin level. He already completed the kunai spinning exercise which as you know is necessary for a chuunin to become a Jounin. He did it in about one and a half weeks, he had some trouble in the beginning but once he understood the concept he completed the exercise in record time.

His taijutsu was just as you warned me about, the taijutsu style that's taught at the academy is totally wrong for him but he has picked up some very interesting books on two taijutsu styles called 'Taekwondo' and 'Aikido'. They are what most people call ancient style but nonetheless they are very effective and Naruto is very proficient at them. I have started to learn them as well and I must say they are without a doubt a powerful style to know.

We have also been working on stealth and tracking, trap making and more theoretical knowledge. He still needs training but he's now at mid genin level on those matters. After said and done, Naruto is a very talented young boy who could very well become one of the best shinobi in the world, if not the best of all." Anko finished.

Sandaime had been listening very closely to Anko's report and he couldn't be more proud at what he heard. Hearing that Naruto had surpassed his teacher's expectations pleased him very much. But still he wondered why nobody at the academy had noticed Naruto's talent. When he asked about it the answer he got displeased him greatly.

"I asked myself that very same question sir and when I asked he first refused to give me an answer saying he didn't want to cause trouble to anyone. I had to bribe him with a new jutsu to get the answer. I wasn't happy when I heard that when he started at the academy he tried to be the very best and studied every day but every time he tried to answer a question the teacher ignored him, when his teacher asked him a question it was always a question no academy student could answer, he even got different tests than his classmates. Naruto realized that no matter what he did, he would always get bad scores so he stopped trying. He also said that every time something happened in class he would get the blame and the punishment. All this resulted in Naruto not learning the basics which lead to him failing three times. It wasn't until Iruka became his sensei that he actually liked going to class but after years of neglecting his studies the damage was done." Anko said with a tone of anger in her voice.

Sarutobi slumped down in his chair and sighed. He should have know something like this had happened. He always wondered why Naruto wasn't as smart and talented as his parents were but now he knew that this wasn't the case it was because of poor teaching and neglect that Naruto's grades suffered.

"I should have know about all of this. Naruto's parents were so talented that it was impossible for Naruto not to be a talented young boy. Damn, some people's ignorance and prejudice, they only saw the Kyuubi and never Naruto. Well, I'm not going to let it slide this time." Sarutobi said slamming his fist on his desk.

"Please Hokage-sama, don't do anything big. Naruto told me this in confidence and I really don't want to break his trust. He told me that it didn't matter anymore thanks to his precious people. He told me that he's very happy right now. I don't want him to have to deal with this when he gets back. Please." Anko almost begged Sandaime.

"Fine, you're right after all he's happy now and that's what matters the most. Thank you Anko for taking care of Naruto. I owe you one. So you tell me he has high chuunin level chakra control already? He never ceases to amaze me, always surprising everybody. So what do you have planned for his training in the coming month?" Sarutobi said after calming down a little.

"Well sir, at first I thought it would take two months to get his chakra control and taijutsu to an acceptable level so that plan went straight out the window. So we've planned to start speed and strength training a month earlier. I'm also thinking about starting his ninjutsu training this month instead of next month. Then there is also his individual training and studying he does. I couldn't believe my eyes when at the end of training he would rest and read for a short time and then he would just start exercising again, Naruto has an unbelievable amount of stamina and chakra. I had trouble keeping up at first but thanks to me training with him I have become stronger myself." Anko said proud of her student progress.

"Individual training and studying? What does he do? Yes, anbu and myself are quite aware of Naruto's amazing stamina. The anbu did have to chase him all over town several times after one of his pranks. I still remember some of those chases." Sarutobi said laughing as he remembered one anbu member collapsing after a chase to catch Naruto.

"Well, Naruto is studying sealing on his own after our daily training is over. He found those sealing scroll so interesting that he wants to learn all about seals. As a matter of fact, I will borrow some books on sealing for him from the Jounin library. He has two other subjects he wants to study being jutsu making and weapon forging. I have to visit someone called Hideki-san if I don't find anything in the library about forging." Anko said.

"He wants to learn sealing and jutsu making? He sure knows to pick some of the most difficult areas of study doesn't he? Ah yes Hideki-san, yes he made quite an impression on Naruto when we went shopping there."Sarutobi said shocked that Naruto wanted to learn these kind of things.

"Yes, but when I told him that mastering sealing and jutsu making could take years, he just shrugged and told me that he had a small army of students at his disposal. Took me a minute to realize he meant Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. But the thing is sir, while Naruto isn't a book smart kind of genius I believe he's the kind of person that learns the most when he can practice with his hands. You know, learning by trying and failing but never giving up and in the end he will understand how something works and he will achieve that what he wants." Anko said.

Sarutobi nodded. After all one of his own students was that kind of person. Hating to study from a book but give him something that he could learn by doing and he would do it in no time. Sarutobi got up from his chair and went to his private bookshelf, after searching for a while he grabbed a book and made his way over to Anko.

"This is one of the most completed books about seals and sealing. It starts from the very beginning and ends at an high intermediate level. Tell Naruto that he can use the book as long as he needs it. Just tell him that it is a book that was written by his hero and he will understand. Tell him that I'm very proud of his progress and that there's no doubt in my mind that one day he will have my job." Sarutobi said to Anko.

Anko nodded and thanked the Hokage for the great book that would help Naruto a lot in his study of seals. She told him that she would be back again next month for her report on Naruto's progress. Getting up she slightly bowed showing her respect to the kind man that Naruto considered his Ji-chan. When she left the office she promptly went to the Jounin library looking for books on jutsu making and weapon forging. After about half an hour she had found 2 books on jutsu making that looked to be very interesting but she didn't find any books on weapon forging. So she went to find this Hideki person Naruto had told her about. She didn't know the store Naruto mentioned but she knew the area in that part of town. After searching for about 10 minutes she located the shop she was looking for. She wasted no time and went inside looking for this Hideki person.

Once inside she could see why Naruto was so excited when he mentioned the store. It was without a doubt one of the biggest shinobi stores she had ever seen. Maybe she would find something that interested her as well. Going towards the counter she saw a man around the Hokage's age reading a magazine. Luckily for the old man it wasn't a dirty magazine otherwise she would have to hurt him.

"Hello sir, I'm looking for Hideki-san" Anko said

The man looked up from his magazine and told her that he was Hideki.

"Ah nice to meet you sir. My name is Mitarashi Anko and I'm Naruto's Jounin sensei. Naruto asked if you could help him finding a book on weapon forging. I looked in the library but didn't find anything." Anko explained.

"Nice to meet you as well Anko-san. Ah yes young Naruto. How is he doing?" Hideki asked wondering how the young genin was doing.

Anko told him how Naruto's training was going and that he was progressing very well. She told him about his interest in sealing thanks to his sealing scroll and about the broken kunai and how it got him interested in weapon forging. Hideki who used to forge his own weapons for his store while he was younger was glad to help out Naruto, so he went in the back and got his own personally written book on his own way of forging. He also got Naruto several scroll that contained a large amount of scrap metal to practice his forging on. Scrap metal was of no use to make actual weapons but was good enough to practice on. Lastly he gave Naruto a scroll that contained a small amount of strong metal that was used to forge high quality weapons. Since he didn't use it anymore he was more than glad to give it to Naruto. Anko thanked him for the great help and gifts he had given Naruto and she told him that Naruto would be very happy knowing that he had such a good friend in Hideki.

After putting everything away in her backpack Anko looked at time to see that she still had plenty of time to get back so she went to find her friend Kurenai. Finding her at the training grounds with her genin team she went over to talk to her. Kurenai saw her friend arriving and dismissed her team for the day wanting to speak without having to worry about her students listening in. Anko quickly told Kurenai about her past month and the time she had spend with Naruto without revealing any details of his training or the things he had learned. Kurenai could see how happy and cheerful Anko was when she talked about her student. She couldn't resist asking more about the mysterious boy named Naruto.

"So his training is going really well? That's good to hear. You look very happy Anko. I don't remember the last time you were so cheerful." Kurenai said to her best friend.

Anko told her that Naruto really was a great guy. She told her that for the first time in her life she really felt comfortable around a man. He was respectful, wasn't a pervert and overall a really nice guy. Kurenai smiled at her friend. She was really happy that Anko had found a friend in Naruto, they both needed more friends to lose some of that lonely feeling both knew all too well.

After that Kurenai told her about her team and the missions they had done until now. She also told that those D-rank missions were so dull that she actually had fallen asleep while her students were completing the mission. That earned her a pat on the back from Anko who said how happy she was not being forced to do such idiotic chores. After talking about non shinobi related topics Anko needed to get back otherwise she would have to travel in the dark and that was something she didn't want to do so they said goodbye and promised to meet each other again next month.

Next time : Chapter 5: Training continues

Look for the new chapter on Sunday the 24th


	5. Chapter 5: Training Continues

I don't own Naruto. Too bad though.

To all the people who reviewed: Thank you all, you know who you are.

I'm still trying to write a decent Naruto/Anko story and some people reviewed that both of them are way out of character. I did this on purpose because the original Naruto and Anko would never get together in my opinion so they needed some changes. Still I try to make it believable and enjoyable for everyone so if you have comment or remarks don't hesitate to tell me.

Some people are still worried about this being a Naruto that will be too strong too fast but no need to worry. Like I said Naruto will be strong and while he will be stronger than the other genin he will not be godlike or super strong. He will need to train and practice like everybody else in the story. And a lot will depend on help from his friends or just plain luck. I want to make him strong but he will need his friends throughout the whole story. One reviewer (T.P.) wrote that the story needed more conversations between characters. I'll will try to change this but I really don't like stories where every line reads :

…..' Naruto said. OR …..' Anko said. That's really annoying to read and write as well. But I will try to improve on this point.

Another thing that I would like to say is that this will not be a true bashing story. Sasuke will be a jerk and he will be put in a bad way but I will not dedicate whole chapters on putting him down. He will not become the nicest guy in the story (lol) but I will not exaggerate if you know what I mean. In some stories the bashing goes way out of line in my opinion. Sakura will be the usual fangirl but she will redeem herself later on. All in all the bashing will be reduced to a minimum. Although I like a good bashing story now and then I decided not to write one since I'm still not too confident about my writing skills.

Anyway on with the story. Hope you like it.

Chapter 5: Training continues

When Anko got back from her first report she found Naruto eating some fish for diner. He quickly took out some more fish and prepared them so she could have diner as well. Anko didn't need to be told twice and she gratefully accepted the meal. Over the meal she told him about her day and about everything that happened. When she gave him the scrolls and books that she received from Hideki he almost started reading right there and then. But then she gave him the book on sealing and told him the message the Hokage had given her.

"This book was written by Yondaime? Really?" Naruto stammered after a full minute of silence.

Anko had been curious who Naruto's hero was and now she knew, it wasn't surprising after all the Yondaime was said to be one of the greatest shinobi ever lived. She quickly nodded and smiled when he pressed the book to his chest as if it was the greatest treasure in the world. To him it probably was. Since she had travelled quite some distance today she wished him goodnight and told him that he had the morning off from training so they could discuss the training schedule for the next month. Naruto wished her goodnight and thanked her again for everything she had done for him. He spend some time reading in Yondaime book and went to sleep soon after reading the first chapter.

When he awoke the next morning he found himself alone in the cave, he quickly got dressed and went outside looking for his sensei. He found her sitting in the clearing furiously scribbling some notes down on a piece of paper. He quietly sat next to her so he wouldn't disturb her while working. He started on making breakfast knowing that she would stop writing as soon as she smelled breakfast.

Anko was trying to figure out a way to maximize the amount of training Naruto could do this month. Not an easy task at 7am in the morning. She wrote something down but soon after that she would find a something new and then she would have to start over again. It was driving her nuts. Suddenly she smelled breakfast and her stomach told her it was time to stop writing and start eating. She looked over at Naruto and saw him smiling while holding a plate for her.

'Naruto has changed so much this past month. He's really something else.' She told herself.

They ate their breakfast in silence like they did every morning. It took Naruto 2 days to figure out that Anko liked to spend the early morning (at least until after breakfast) in silence. He came to enjoy a silent breakfast soon after that. It was a time where he could think about the day that was to come.

"Alright gaki, we have to figure out your new training schedule. I've been going over some things but I can't seem to find a healthy balance. Help me out here will you? Now I think that you could spend one hour every day practicing chakra control, then we have some sparring matches until lunch. After lunch we could spend some time working on speed and strength training. Or we could work on your ninjutsu training? What do you think?" Anko said trying to get Naruto to help.

"What about this? In the morning I make a few dozen clones like always and tell them to practice chakra control and taijutsu, while the clones do that you and I work on sparring, speed and strength exercises. After lunch we could either work on ninjutsu or theoretical stuff. We could alternate the afternoon program each day. Sounds good?" Naruto said.

Anko thought about it and agreed that this was a good idea. Having a full afternoon time on one subject would allow her to go slowly when Naruto had trouble and it would allow their muscles to relax and adjust. She liked the idea of having some kind of diversity while teaching. So they quickly agreed that they would follow Naruto's schedule for the next month. They decided to start in the afternoon with theoretical lessons since she still felt a little tired from the day before. Naruto told her that was fine and since they had the morning off he took out his book on sealing and started reading while Anko went back to bed.

The next day Naruto did his morning exercises but when he was about to make a few dozen clones Anko told him that she had a new exercise in mind. She got the idea some days before about how medical shinobi had to have really good chakra control. They were able to make chakra scalpels with their chakra. A chakra scalpel was made by focusing an amount of chakra to the tip of the finger and manipulation it in such a way that it would become as sharp as a knife. The more she thought about it, the more sure she became that it would be a really good exercise for Naruto. She quickly explained what she had in mind and Naruto made his clones and told them to get started. While the clones were busy the two of them started on having a light spar before working on speed and strength training.

Several days later one of his clones had a small success in creating what seemed to be an incomplete chakra scalpel. The clone had succeeded in sharpening the chakra into a somewhat sharp knife. After that small success he quickly managed to recreate what the clone had done and he was on his way to make a fully completed chakra scalpel. His other training started good as well, he was becoming more and more adept at using both Taekwondo and Aikido and gave Anko a run for her money when they had sparring matches. The ninjutsu training was lots of fun as well, Anko had taught him several Katon jutsu's and 3 variations on the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. He remembered those lessons well.

_Flashback_

_"Alright gaki, I've got 3 variation__s__ of Kage Bunshin No Jutsu for you to learn. They're named 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin No Jutsu', 'Kunai Kage Bunshin No Jutsu' and 'Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu'. The first two make not clones of yourself but off your kunai or shuriken. I'm sure you can see the advantage of that. The third one makes clones just like the normal Kage Bunshin No Jutsu but it allows you to let the clone explode taking your enemy with them." Anko explained. _

_Naruto was practically bouncing up and down hearing about these very cool jutsu's. He couldn't wait to get started with the training. When he wanted to make some clones to help him in mastering the jutsu Anko stopped him._

_"No Naruto, no clones in the beginning. I want you to learn them first on your own. After you're able to do them well enough you can master them by using Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. I don't want you to rely on that jutsu all the time." Anko ordered Naruto._

_Naruto didn't get why he couldn't use the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to learn the new jutsu. But if he was honest with himself he realized he depended too much on the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu so he nodded and started learning the Kunai Kage Bunshin No Jutsu. _

_In the end it took him about __2__ days per jutsu to be able to do them good enough before Anko allowed him to use the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to finish mastering them. But he felt really good about himself for not using Kage Bunshin No Jutsu to learn them and he decided to always learn a new jutsu on his own and only when he was able to do it well enough would he finish mastering it with Kage Bunshin No Jutsu._

_End flashback_

Halfway through the month Naruto had a breakthrough in his experiments with seals. He had been trying to create his own storage scroll but it proved to be harder that it looked. The necessary seals that had to be placed on the scroll were much more complicated than he anticipated but he didn't give up. Naruto didn't know the words 'giving up' and kept trying with Anko encouraging him every step of the way.

His success came when he tried for the hundred time to create a storage scroll. By not paying attention for a small moment he applied two necessary seals in what he thought was the wrong order. The result was a fully working storage scroll that he created on his own. It was the first time he had succeeded in creating a working scroll so understandably he was very proud and couldn't stop smiling for 2 days after. Or it could be because Anko had given him a big hug and a small kiss on his cheek as a way to congratulate him. Naruto had blushed up a storm and Anko hadn't stopped teasing him about it for days. The next part in the book he received from Yondaime was creating a sort of gravity seal that would allow him to put it on his chest. This seal would make his body twice as heavy as he normally was. The advantage of this seal was that unlike normal weights (which were rarely used any more according to Anko) this seal would affect every muscle in his body. This would result in a much more completed training. Naruto was immediately interested, it didn't help that Yondaime had written in the margin that he personally used this seal when he was young. Anko said that until she was absolutely sure that he could do it without risking anything she wouldn't allow him to put it on his body. She would also talk about it with Sandaime Hokage and only if he said that the seal was safe she would allow him to apply it on his body.

Naruto who didn't had anyone worrying about him before like this was touched that Anko cared so much about him and since he couldn't do the seal yet anyway it didn't matter.

Now two days before Anko had to report on Naruto's progress he called her aside. He had finished a little side project of his. He had been trying to design his own weapon for some time now and he had decided to start small and make some throwing knifes. While kunai were very useful and a lot of shinobi used them as a throwing weapons the fact remained that kunai were not designed for this purpose. Kunai were designed to use as a stabbing and cutting weapon. Wanting a specially designed throwing knife he had sat down, made some sketches of how he wanted them to look and started practicing on forging them out of the scrap metal he had gotten from Hideki-san. After trying several times he got them just right. He decided to make an extra 3 sets of 3 throwing knifes for Anko, his Ji-chan and Hideki-san.

Anko surprised at Naruto's actions seeing he was kind of nervous about something went over to him and asked if something was wrong. Naruto who was sweating bullets assured her everything was fine and told her he had made something for her. After saying that he held out a small package and told her to open it. When she opened it Anko couldn't believe her eyes. Inside were 3 beautifully shaped knifes. She sat down and took one of the knife in her hand to take a closer look at it. The knife was about 8 inch long, handle included, they were long in shape and double edged. The handle was just long enough to fit right in her hand allowing her to hold it very comfortably. The knife looked incredibly sharp and very easy to use.

Naruto who had been watching her examine the knife couldn't help but worry that she didn't like it. He really hoped she like them, it was his way to say thank you for everything she had done for him over the past two months.

"Naruto, I don't know what to say. These are incredible. How did you manage to make such fantastic weapons. I didn't even see you practice forging them." Anko said while looking back and forth between the knifes and Naruto.

"Well, I knew that kunai aren't really meant to be throwing weapons so I wanted to make my own. So I designed them myself and started making them from the scrap metal I got from Hideki-san. When I knew I could make them perfectly I forged them out of that high quality metal as a present for you. I also made a set for Ji-chan and Hideki-san. Do you like them? It's ok if you don't, I understand." Naruto said shyly.

"Like them? Naruto I love them. Thank you so much for this wonderful present. I will treasure them for the rest of my life. I can't believe you did that for me." Anko truthfully said with a tear in each eye. And to prove how grateful she really was she grabbed him in a big hug and gave him a kiss on each cheek.

Naruto felt a huge weight drop of his shoulders when she told him that she loved her present. Then he got hugged and kissed again and he started blushing like crazy. He told her that it was nothing and that it was a way to thank her for everything she had done for him. Though he thought that he could never repay her for the past 2 months.

They had spent the rest of the day throwing the knifes for practice and Anko had to say that they were without a doubt much more comfortable and easier to throw than kunai. She was amazed at Naruto ability to forge such a flawless weapon. She was sure that Sandaime Hokage and Hideki would say the same thing. Naruto got a little flushed when she told him that.

The night before she had to leave for her report she asked Naruto if there was anything he needed from the library. Naruto who still finished his book on sealing and still had to start on the books for jutsu making told her he was fine for now. He wanted to concentrate on the things he had at hand before moving on to other subjects. But he remembered a lesson where Anko had told him about chakra affinities and that you could see what kind of affinity you had by using a special piece of paper so he asked if she could get him one of those. He was kind of curious to know what his affinity was. Anko promised him to bring him back such a paper and prepared her backpack carefully putting Naruto's presents inside. She wondered how they would react.

When she woke up the next morning Naruto was already outside preparing breakfast for both of them. She went outside and greeted him with a small smile and sat down to start eating breakfast. She was grateful that he had prepared breakfast for her because she would have to travel back to the village today for her report. After eating she cleared the dishes and got ready to leave. Waving goodbye she told him she would be back before nightfall and that he better had trained while she was away or there would be trouble. Naruto laughed and asked her to say hello to everybody for him. Nodding she left towards the exit of the forest. When she arrived she once again made straight for the Hokage tower and marched straight to the Hokage's office. Knocking, she heard Sandaime give his permission to enter.

"Good morning Hokage-sama, I'm here for my monthly report." She said saluting the Hokage since she was in a playful mood.

The Hokage smiled and wished her a good morning as well. Telling her to sit down he waited for her to start her report. But before she started she opened her backpack and gave him a small package.

"It's a present from Naruto. To thank you for everything you have done for him." Anko said smiling.

Sarutobi carefully opened the package not knowing what it could be. He slowly took one of the three knifes in his hand and studied very closely. He could see that they were made with precision and great care. He thought they were beautiful, almost a work of art not meant to be used in battle. He looked at Anko asking her to explain. When he heard that Naruto had forged these throwing knifes for him he could help but feel happy and honored. She also told him that he had made a set for her and Hideki as well.

"That boy, how does he manage to surprise me time and time again?" Sandaime wondered out loud.

Like last time Anko gave a detailed overview of Naruto's progress. How he had succeed in making his own storage scroll, how he had mastered the chakra scalpel exercise and the jutsu's he had learned. She also told him about the gravity seal that Naruto wanted to try. She asked him about the dangers of such a seal. Sandaime quickly reassured her that if Yondaime had used the seal it was perfectly safe to use.

"He completed the chakra scalpel exercise? That's amazing for someone with his amount of chakra. He must have worked very hard to achieve such a feat. How is his taijutsu going?" asked Sarutobi.

Anko explained that Naruto practiced for day to no end to complete the chakra scalpel exercise but once again when he made his first small breakthrough it didn't take long to finish it. She also told him that his taijutsu was getting very hard to beat thanks to his speed and strength training. Also the fact that his stamina was greater than hers so couldn't underestimate him anymore. He was getting strong very fast in her opinion. She also told him that while he hadn't started on making his own jutsu's yet she believed it was only a matter of time.

"Anko, how strong do you think Naruto is now and how strong do you think he will be after the full six months? Please give a honest reply. This is important because it relates to a promise I made." Sarutobi said in a very serious voice.

Anko who hadn't expected such a question kept silent for a full minute thinking how she would make an honest assessment of Naruto's strength and level. After thinking about it she told the Sandaime Hokage that she believed Naruto to be between high genin and low chuunin as of this moment. She gave him this level because although Naruto got very good at taijutsu and chakra control, he still had a number of skill he had to improve or acquire. She predicted that by the end of the six months Naruto would at least be between midlevel and high level chuunin. Of course she was a bit biased being his sensei but she believed that if anyone could achieve this it would be Naruto.

Sarutobi nodded satisfied with Anko's honest reply and opened a drawer from his desk. The drawer had a special seal on it which only allowed himself to open it. Thanks to a seal, that recognized a person's chakra signature only the owner could access the drawer. He pulled out a scroll, placed it on his desk and once again undid a seal that would allow somebody else to read it. This wasn't the only seal on the scroll though it had several safety seals that would protect the contents that it held. Sarutobi looked at the scroll with a look of sadness and regret on his face before telling Anko that this scroll was now Naruto's. He didn't know what was written inside but he had promised Yondaime that when Naruto would have reached Chuunin level he would give the scroll to him. Yondaime said that only Naruto would be able to open it thanks to a blood seal, Naruto would have put some of his blood on the seal which would allow him to open it. There was another seal on the scroll that would judge Naruto's chakra level to see if he was strong enough to read the scroll, when the scroll judged him ready he would be able to read it. Sarutobi asked Anko that when she returned tonight she would give the scroll to him. He also asked that she would support Naruto when he would read it because if he guessed right it the contents of the scroll would be a huge shock to him. Anko quickly promised to help Naruto in every way possible to make sure he would be alright. That being said Sarutobi dismissed her and told her that he would wait with a heavy heart for her next report. He also told her that Hideki wanted to see her though he hadn't said about what.

Five minutes later Anko was on her way to Hideki's shop wondering what the old man wanted from her. Maybe he had a gift for her or Naruto? Arriving at the store she wasted no time and went inside.

"Hello Hideki-san, you asked to see me and here I am. What can I do for you?"she said with a playful voice.

"Ah, Anko-san just the person I wanted to see. And right on time as well. Excellent." Hideki said.

After some small talk Hideki got right to business. He told her that he had managed to buy a significant amount of high quality metal from a retiring weapon maker. Hideki had been able to get a very good price for it and he wanted Naruto to have it. The man was so impressed that a young boy wanted to learn how to forge weapons that he donated some of his very own equipment to help Naruto in his weapon making. Anko couldn't help it but she had to smile as she thought about how Naruto would react to such a gift. He would be very happy no doubt about it. She thank him very much and asked that he would that the old weapon maker in hers and Naruto's name. He nodded and told her that would do just that. After that she remembered that she had a gift to deliver and took the small package out of her backpack. Hideki opened the package and took out one of the knives. He was very impressed with the knives and told Anko to tell Naruto how much he liked them.

After spending the rest of the afternoon with Kurenai (silently cursing one of her students for being very loud and annoying) she went back to the forest. She liked the village but she liked the tranquility of the forest much better. She felt good in the middle of nature and liked the small place in the forest she started to call home after these past 2 months.

Naruto for his part had finished his necessary training for the day around noon so he had the rest of the afternoon to read up on seals. He had an idea in the back of his head that he wanted to try out. He had skipped through the book last night and had found something called 'a blood seal' that he immediately liked. A seal that would offer protection to his scrolls so only he (or his descendants) could open them seemed a very nice option. If he wanted to start his own clan weapons and jutsu's he would need a way to protect those secrets so a blood seal protection sounded very useful. After several tries he succeed in placing the seal on one of his storage scrolls. Happy about his success he applied the seal to all the storage scrolls he had made until now. Seeing that he still had lots of time before Anko would be back he flipped through the book looking for something useful.

Just when he was about to give up on finding something that he could do since a lot of the seals still were out of his reach, a small note caught his eye. It was something that Yondaime had scribbled down between two chapters, the seal he described was a seal that would allow you to channel chakra into a weapon. The seal would place the weapon in a casing made of chakra. The casing would take the form and shape of the weapon and would have a very sharp edge which would make the weapon even sharper and stronger. Naruto thought it was like a chakra scalpel but on a weapon. He could see the use of such a thing. One effect of the chakra scalpel was that it cut like a hot knife through butter. Having such a edge on a weapon would lead to great damage on his enemies. He took out one of his throwing knives and started to engrave the seal into the blade, this took some time because he didn't want to make a mistake and ruin his knife. After about half an hour of very carefully engraving the seal he finally finished it. He wondered what kind of damage his improved knife would do. Deciding that there's no time like the present he went to the tree they had used for target practice. He struggled a bit to put the right amount of chakra into the seal. When he saw a blue glow appear around the knife just like the book said he threw it at the target with all the strength he could muster. Keeping his eyes on the weapon, he almost fainted from pure excitement when he saw the knife pierce through the tree and embed itself into the tree behind it. He stood there shocked at what he had seen, his mind trying to grasp the possibilities that opened up to him thanks to this seal and already thinking about engraving the rest of his knives. He went over to the target tree and saw that the knife just went through it like it wasn't there. He collected his knife and saw that the chakra casing had disappeared, he reasoned that the casing probably disappeared when the knife went through the first tree. After that it was just a normal throwing knife.

Anko arrived soon after finding Naruto grinning like a madman engraving something into his knives. The look in his eyes was one of pure excitement and pride. Seeing he was busy doing some detailed work she decided not to disturb him until he put down the knives. Some minutes later he looked up and greeted Anko with a huge smile.

"Hey Naruto, everything alright? What has gotten you in such a good mood?" Anko asked a little concerned.

"Anko sensei, watch this." Was all that Naruto said. He went over to the tree with Anko following him.

He channeled some chakra into the knife and threw it towards the tree. When Anko saw the knife going through the tree she dropped the scroll she had been holding. Looking shocked and hardly believing what she had just seen she managed to ask Naruto how the hell he did that. So Naruto started explaining about applying the blood seal to his storage scroll and find the seal for the weapon in the book. He told her that he had tried it on one knife and when he saw the results he promptly started to engrave the seal into his other knives .

'He did that in just one day? Damn, the gaki is getting better and better with seals. What else will he come up with? Oh man, I can't wait to see all those jerks at the academy when they see how talented Naruto really is. That's going to be a sight to behold.' Anko thought with a smile.

She told Naruto that he had found an amazing thing and surpassed her expectations once again. She then told him to gather all his stuff and then they would eat diner inside the cave. She was a little nervous about showing him the scroll she received from the Hokage. She could tell from his body language that the old man was a little afraid of how Naruto would react. Since Naruto was in such a good mood she didn't to cause him grief if she could help it. But she had promised to give the scroll tonight and she would keep that promise.

After diner she told him about the scroll she had for him, she told him it was addressed to him from Yondaime and that he would only be able to read it if he was strong enough. She said he could try and see if he could open once every week starting tonight. She also told him that she promised Sandaime that she would stay with him and that he asked her to read the scroll with him. Naruto nodded and said that he would try to open it. He let a drop of blood fall on the seal and the scroll glowed red showing that the blood protection was lifted. He then channeled some chakra into the scroll and to his and Anko surprise the scroll opened up showing that he was ready to read the words Yondaime had written. With shaking hands Naruto grabbed the scroll and put it on his lap, Anko sat down next to him and put her arm around his shoulder showing her support. Together they started to read.

_Dear Naruto,_

_I'm writing this scroll knowing that this would be the only thing I would be able to leave you. This is without a doubt the most painful thing I had ever had to do. On this very moment Kyuubi is attacking the outer limit__s__ of the village and as Hokage I have to fight and protect the ones I love. I also know that this will be my last fight, Kyuubi cannot be defeated like any other enemy. Kyuubi is a demon and so many times stronger than a shinobi, even a shinobi as strong as myself. Knowing this I started searching for another way to defeat it and I believe I have found it._

_But this solution come with a great cost, a cost of a human life. If it would have been my life it would have gladly given it but unfortunately this is not the case. While I will die fighting the Kyuubi it's your life I have to sacrifice and for that I'm so very sorry. I'm going to seal the demon inside your body making you a prison for him. You will the one who will save our village every day of your life. You will stop him from destroying everything and everyone we love. You will be a hero amongst hero's but by doing this I know that I'm sentencing you to a very hard life and for that I apologize once more. Know that I have the utmost confidence in you, I know that you will be able to do what I am not. Defeating Kyuubi and protecti__ng__ our village and loved ones._

_I'm sure you're wondering why I chose you? Well, the reason is simple but also complicated at the same time. The truth is that you're my son, you are the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. I can only imagine how you must feel right now. Know that I had no choice than to cho__o__se you my son. You're the only one I would trust for such a job. I understand if you're mad at me and maybe even hate me. _

_The reason nobody told you about us is that I had a large number of enemies inside and outside of Konoha. I was responsible for the death of a large number of Iwa shinobi during the war and they have always been very hostile towards me after the war. If they knew I had a son they would have send assassins to kill you and I couldn't let that happen to my only son. _

_I'm very sorry to say that your mother died during labor (which is not your fault so don't even think such a thing!), your mother was very sick at the end of her pregnancy and her weakened heart couldn't handle the stress of giving birth. But know that she loved more than life itself. She held you in her arms for a brief moment and I had never seen her so happy in all the time I have known her. She would always talk about you and the things she would teach you when you were older. _

_As for me, I have never been more proud than the moment I held you in my arms for the first time. I knew right there and then that you would be the greatest shinobi ever. I have loved you since the moment your mom and I knew she was pregnant and I loved you more and more each passing day. I'm so proud to be your dad and I love you very much. Never forget that._

_Inside this scroll are several of my original jutsu's that I have made and that made me the man I am today. This is my legacy for you Naruto. The Namikaze clan is not a big or famous clan like the Uchiha or the Hyuuga so we're not rich and we don't own a large estate but we were always happy with what we had and more importantly we had love. Make sure you find someone to love my son, because love will enable you to become truly strong._

_Well, I guess this is it. There were so many things your mother and I wanted to teach you, we wanted to see you grow up happily and find love so you could give us some grandchildren to spoil. So as your parents we give you a mission. The mission is to get as strong as you can, find a lovely wife and raise at least 2 children on which you can pass our legacy on to. This is our mission to you. _

_With all our love, _

_Mom and Dad _

When Naruto and Anko finished reading the letter both had tears in their eyes, both very moved by such a beautiful letter which had such a sad contents. Naruto couldn't stop the tears from falling and his shoulders started the shake from the emotions and feelings that were going through his head. Anko felt him tearing up and on the spur of the moment embraced him in a tight hug letting him know that is was ok to cry on her shoulder. And so Naruto broke down, for the first time in years he cried. He cried for his mom and dad, he cried that they died without knowing their son, he cried for himself because fate didn't allow him to know his parents, he cried because of the loneliness he had known for years.

Anko held him in her arms telling him to let it out while she spoke soft words of support. She was amazed at the boys, no not boy, this young man's past and that he was the son of the biggest hero Konoha had ever known. Briefly she wondered why she hadn't noticed it before, she remembered the picture that hang in the Hokage tower and Naruto really was the spitting image of his dad. They looked like father and son, maybe she needed glasses because the resemblance was staggering. She felt Naruto calm down and when she looked at him she found him asleep on her shoulder tired from all the crying he had done. She smiled and moved him so he could sleep comfortably, she gave him a small kiss on the forehead and went to sleep herself.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This concludes Chapter 5 of 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'

I tried to write an emotional chapter and personally I think I succeeded in doing just that. Let me know what you think and expect Chapter 6 on Sunday the 2nd of March.

Chapter 6: Continuing the legacy

Sneak peak : Naruto and Anko talk about their pasts and their dreams for the future. Naruto forges his personal weapon and starts training to master his father's prized jutsu called 'Rasengan' .


	6. Chapter 6: Continuing the legacy

I don't own Naruto. Shame because I could use the fame and money that comes with it. Ah well.

To all the people who reviewed again thank you very much. It makes me very glad so many people like my story and that people are willing to help me in making the story better.

A very nice review came from cjcold2, who said that I oversimplify the forging of weapons and he's absolutely right. Forging weapons is a form of art that takes years of practice before you could produce weapons of high quality. It also takes lots of materials and equipment that Naruto doesn't have at hand like a heating oven and stuff like that. While I could write the whole process in details I feel that this would be a little too much, after all it's not a story about how he forges the weapons but it's his story in a whole I want to write about.

If some of you really want to know in detail how a katana is forged then I recommend you to visit the link in my profile. It's a pdf file and it has a very nice description on how a katana is made. I read through it and found it to be very interesting and it made me respect the art of weapon forging even more.

Another good point he brought up was 'where does Naruto get the necessary stuff for sealing?' I really should have mentioned this before but Anko does bring back things from when she goes back to town. Things like food, empty scrolls, books and things like that but the reason I didn't write it down is that I believed that reading about Anko doing groceries might have been a little boring. I will mention this in the next chapter and maybe make a small edit to the previous chapters if people think it is necessary.

He also wrote that Anko has gone soft which I guess is true. The Anko in this story is a lot different from the original Anko. I still believe that the original Anko hides her feeling behind that sarcastic façade of her so I made it so that Naruto was able to break through that mask. That's why she's a whole other person around him. With his childlike innocence and the fact that he treats her in a very respectful way he succeeded in slowly but surely breaking down the walls she had build around her heart. Off course this story is AU although I will follow the things that happened in the manga but nonetheless some things will change a little and some things will change a lot.

So thank you cjcold2 for your very nice review. And thank you everybody else who reviewed.

Again some people are worrying about Naruto getting too strong too fast. I understand this very well. But in this story Naruto will not be the only one to be much stronger than in the original story. Just like in the manga he will have a way to influence people just by being around them. Yes he will be strong and powerful for a genin (six months of training will make you stronger after all) but the other genin will have trained as well so they too will be stronger than in the original story. What I'm trying to say is that Naruto will provide the others with a drive to become stronger themselves resulting in some kind of balance between them all.

In this chapter there is mention of Team 7 which consist out of Sakura, Sasuke and an OC that won't be mentioned much throughout the story. As a matter of fact he doesn't even have a purpose other than complete the team. He won't even have a name and will disappear after the Chuunin exams. Team 7 will not have a large role in this story I'm afraid. Naruto will not be joining team 7 at all, though he and Sasuke will have their usual problems with each other.

Chapter 6: Continuing the legacy

* * *

The next morning Naruto woke up feeling better than ever, he felt like he had gotten rid of all those feelings of sadness and loneliness last night. Now that he knew who his parents were and that they loved him above everything else a huge weight had dropped from his shoulders. For years he had thought that his parents abandoned him and that they didn't love him. Now he knew the truth and he couldn't be more happier. Well, he was still sad that they were gone but he couldn't change anything about that so once again he made a promise to make his parents proud and to fulfill the mission they gave him. He had no problem with that missions since it was one of his biggest dreams to have his own family. He would do anything to make sure that that dream came through.

He saw Anko still wrapped up in her futon and he remembered how she held him when he cried. He was really grateful for her presence last night. He didn't recall when or how he fell asleep the only thing he knew was that he had never slept so good before in his entire life. He would have to thank her for her help. She really was a fantastic woman in his eyes, she helped with his training, she was fun to be around and she was there for him when he needed her the most. How he would ever repay her he didn't know but he would find something. Getting up he started to make the best breakfast ever made to show some of his appreciation.

Anko woke up smelling what seemed to be a delicious breakfast, looking over to Naruto's futon she saw he was already outside. She hoped he was feeling somewhat better, she didn't like seeing Naruto hurt and sad, it made her feel helpless and useless. Getting dressed she decided to let Naruto say the first word, she wouldn't force him to talk about it. When he was ready he would talk to her, she was sure of that. When she came outside the cave she found him waiting for her so they could have breakfast. She nodded a good morning to him and attacked her breakfast. He smiled as he saw just how much she enjoyed the breakfast he had made for them.

As she finished breakfast Naruto saw a moment to thank her for last night.

"Anko sensei, thank you for last night. Thank you for being there with me. I feel much better now that cried for my parents. I always wondered if they had abandoned me but now I know the truth. It made me really happy that I could cry on your shoulder. It really means a lot for me." Naruto said softly.

"Don't worry Naruto, I feel honored that you wanted me there last night. That was a very personal letter after all. It was a very normal reaction to want to cry, you have found something that you wanted all your life as an orphan. I know because just like you I lost my parents when I was really young so I kind of know what you're going through. Just know that you're not alone anymore. You have Sandaime, Iruka and you have me, we will help you whenever you needs us." Anko said.

Anko stood up and went over to Naruto and gave him a big hug and for the first time he hugged her back. It seemed that he decided to take a chance again and let someone into his heart. He felt good when she hugged him so he wanted to receive more of these hugs.

"Thank you Anko-chan." He whispered not intending that she would hear him say those words.

"You're very welcome Naruto-kun." She said smiling at the way he addressed her.

Naruto broke away from her and tried to apologize for calling her that. Anko smiled and said that she didn't mind one bit and that he could call her that if he wanted but only after training and when it was just the both of them. He quickly nodded his head and tried to change the subject. He asked her if she would like to look with him at the jutsu his dad had left him? Anko said she would love to but that he should take a look for himself first. Naruto argued that she was his friend and sensei and that wanted her to see the jutsu because he knew that she could be trusted. Hearting that argument she couldn't refuse his offer so they looked through the scroll finding 2 jutsu's that made his dad so famous. They found notes on 'Rasengan' a wind and chakra based attack that was highly destructive when mastered, they also found a very detailed description on 'Hiraishin no Jutsu' which earned his dad the nickname 'Konoha's Yellow Flash'. Naruto was aware that mastering these jutsu would be far from easy, the Rasengan was a A-rank jutsu and Hiraishin No Jutsu was a S-rank jutsu but he would master them no matter what. It was his father legacy and it was his duty as his son to continue where his dad had left off.

Anko was shocked beyond words, she was able to see the original notes on two of the most famous jutsu's in the whole shinobi world. Seeing them performed in person was a huge honor but seeing the notes the Yondaime had written, seeing how it was developed and how to learn to perform them was like meeting Kami in person. If Naruto could learn these jutsu's by the end of his training he would be without a doubt one of the strongest genin in history of Konoha. She would have to incorporate these jutsu's in her training schedule because there was no way Naruto wouldn't want to learn these jutsu's.

"Naruto, these are amazing. Imagine learning these jutsu's before the end of these six months. You would shock the Sandaime out of his socks. You would be the strongest genin ever lived, no genin no scratch not even the best Jounin would be able to beat the Rasengan and the Hiraishin no Jutsu." Anko said becoming more and more excited by the minute.

Naruto would have to agree with her, his Ji-chan would be very surprised to see him perform his father's jutsu's. It would be the best present he could give his Ji-chan, showing him that he would be stepping in his father's footsteps. He knew Ji-chan considered his dad as family, he had told him before how much he loved Yondaime and how sad he was when he died.

"Anko-sensei, please help me learn these jutsu's. I want to make you, my parents and Ji-chan proud. I need to know to do these jutsu's. I will do whatever it takes." Naruto said full of conviction.

After that they started on making a training schedule for the next months. Since the Rasengan was almost pure chakra manipulation they would practice on that instead of chakra control exercises. Naruto wanted to learn the Rasengan on his own and not by the use of Kage Bunshin No Jutsu which meant that it would take longer but they had 4 months to practice. But Anko was sure Naruto would learn the Rasengan fairly quick thanks to his good chakra control, the Hiraishin No Jutsu would be learned after the normal training since he would first have to learn the seals that were necessary for the jutsu. Also his taijutsu would continue same as speed and strength training, the theoretical lessons Anko would spend on talking and discussing all the different clans that Konoha had. She wanted him to know about the clans and their jutsu's so that he would know how to fight them if necessary. Naruto also wanted to practice his weapon forging since he had several ideas that he wanted to try out.

So they started the training for the next month. Naruto and Anko spend their time training and enjoying their time together. They had fun together when training was over and they really got to know each other. Naruto had told her about some of his past and the loneliness he had know and Anko told him why she wasn't well liked in the village and about Orochimaru and the cursed seal she had received from him. Orochimaru promptly went to the number one spot on Naruto's 'to kill' list but Anko made him promise to never search out Orochimaru and if he ever encountered him, he was to take his teammate's and run to safety. She told him that no matter how strong he got, he definitely wasn't strong to beat one of the legendary Sannin. Naruto promised that he wouldn't search for Orochimaru but that if he ever threatened one of his precious people he would fight him with everything he got. Anko seeing he wouldn't change his mind on this accepted and thanked him for seeing her as one of his precious people.

"Naruto-kun, what are you dreams for the future besides becoming Hokage? Surely you have other dreams?" Anko asked her student. She smiled when she saw his face change into a serious thinking kind of face. He seemed to think a lot about how to answer this question she thought.

"Well, yeah off course I have other dreams but becoming Hokage is not only a dream it's a goal. A goal that I will achieve no matter what. I guess I have three dreams that I would like to see fulfilled. One would be to be accepted by the village as 'Uzumaki Naruto' and not as the 'Kyuubi child', the second would be 'to start my own family' you know wife and children and third would be 'to become the world's strongest shinobi' that would be great." Naruto finished.

"Those are very nice dreams Naruto-kun and I'm sure you will succeed in making them come true." Anko said smiling.

"What are your dreams for the future Anko-chan? There must be something you want?" Naruto asked in return.

"Sure I have several dreams. Euh let me see. Well one of them would be to kick Orochimaru's ass that's for sure. Being acknowledged as me instead of snake bitch would be nice too I guess. But most of all I want to find the place where I belong alongside with someone who loves me for me. I guess that sounds kind of cliché but it's true for me." Anko finished.

"That doesn't sound cliché at all to me. For someone who had a loving family all their live and who had everything they ever wanted that may sound cliché but not to those with a past like ours. People like us want security and reassurance in life because we know how what it feels like without them." Naruto said understanding what Anko said.

"Alright enough on the depressing topics let's see what fun things could we talk about? Oh I know gossip. Always good for a laugh. " Anko said with a evil smile. She was a girl after all and girls loved to gossip.

"Gossip? I don't know? What do I know about gossiping?" Naruto said trying to change to topic. Not because he didn't know any gossip or something like that but he didn't want to cause trouble for anyone.

"Yeah gossip you know. Like a dirty little secret someone has or your opinion on someone. I'll start you'll see what I mean. Okay, there's a Jounin in the village called Hatake Kakashi. He's very strong and considered a genius but he's also a pervert. He's always reading a orange little book called 'Icha Icha something' and he's always late. He wears a mask and nobody has ever seen him without it. Kurenai and I have tried to take it off but until now we never succeeded. He's a fine shinobi but a lousy man for anything else, he pisses me off with his little book. You'll meet him later on, he's the Jounin sensei of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and one guy, I don't remember his name." Anko said with a gleam in her eye that promised lots of pain for this Kakashi person. She also noticed the look on Naruto's face when she mentioned the name Uchiha Sasuke. She was curious why so she asked if he had a problem with him.

"A problem? I guess you could call it that yeah. You see Sasuke is the prince of the village so to speak, just because of his name he's pampered like nobody else. Everybody adores him and treats him like he's god's gift to mankind. I don't like him because of that. Though I will admit Sasuke is strong he's also a jerk and an arrogant ass. I'm to first to say Sasuke is talented because he is, there's no question about that but there are a lot of people out there that are much stronger than he is. I used to try to get along with him seeing as we're both orphans but every time I tried to talk to him he would insult me or make fun of me for no reason. So in the end I just let him be but he would always manage to rile me up or work on my nerves. In the academy I considered him my rival since he was always better at everything than I was but now I don't care about that at all." Naruto admitted to her.

Anko laughed and said that every generation had one of those types like Sasuke and told him not to worry about it. After that they talked about things like dango or ramen. They talked way into the night both enjoying the fact that they got to know the other a little better than before. When they saw the time they quickly went to bed since they had training in the morning.

A few days later Naruto had designed a new weapon that he wanted to forge. Thanks to the old weapon maker Naruto had excellent tools to make this weapon. He wanted to make himself his own sword. The sword that he designed was a Japanese style katana that when sheathed looked like a slightly curved wooden stick but he planned it like that. He wanted that when you looked at it you couldn't see where there the handle and sheath started or ended. The sword would be about 40 inch long, the blade making up for 27 inch and the handle would be about 11 inch. He knew that carrying a large sword like that was inconvenient for a shinobi but he had already a solution in mind for that. He would try to modify the storage seal in a way that when applied to a short sheath of 10 inch he would be able to fit the blade that was 27 inch long inside. That would make his sword (sheath and handle) only about 20 inch long which would be much easier to carry and conceal. When he asked Anko if she had anything special planned for the evening she told him that he could do whatever he liked since today had been theoretical lessons. So Naruto set out to start the forging of his new sword. Making several Kage Bunshins to aid him he took out his materials and went to work. The first thing he had to do was to forge a rough forged version of his sword, then he would have to forge the metal into the correct size, third step was covering the blade with clay, forth step was to heat up the in clay covered blade and cool it down right afterwards and the final step would be polishing and sharpening the blade. The process would take weeks to complete but Naruto didn't care, he liked working on his weapons very much. It would be a process of trial and error but Naruto was sure that he could do it thanks to the book he received from Hideki-san.

While he was working on a rough forging of his sword he thought back about the past few days. His training in Rasengan had gone better than he could have hoped. Thank to his continuous training in chakra control he was pretty good at manipulation chakra necessary for the Rasengan. He had managed to complete the first step of learning the Rasengan. He had to give it to his dad, the man was a genius. Naruto would never been able to come up with such a jutsu he toughed. Although it took his dad 3 years to master the Rasengan, Naruto was sure he would be able to do it soon. This was of course thanks to his father's notes on how he learned it. And Naruto happily used the notes. The Hiraishin No Jutsu proved to be very difficult, the number of seals he had to learn was simply too much to learn in a few weeks. At the rate it was going now it would take him several more weeks even months to memorize the seals and then he had to determine in which order he had to put them since that changed with every person. So it would be a work of trial and error for Naruto. But he didn't give up (not that he wanted to or that Anko would allow him to) and he was sure that one day he would be able to do that amazing jutsu.

Anko was thinking about how Naruto seemed much happier than ever before, he smiled and laughed, he made jokes and he had even tried to prank her. Trying being the key word. She caught him while he was making his preparations so he knew he was busted. All she said was better luck next time and went on with whatever she was doing at the time. Naruto had completely thrown away the emotional mask that he wore before and began to be a normal teenage boy who would have a temper tantrum once in a while. But since he was still new at not hiding his feelings Anko had to repeatedly say that it was okay to disagree or being angry as long as he did it in a respectful way without shouting and throwing things. So far it had gone great, when he didn't agree he told her so and also presented a counter argument which they would discuss. Though overall they got along great and disagreements were rare happenings. She also noticed that it wasn't only Naruto that had changed, she found that she herself had changed as well. Ever since they had talked about their pasts she had been feeling better than ever, her heart felt lighter than ever and she liked the feeling a lot. She started to consider Naruto not only as her student but also as one of her friends and one of the people she would protect at all costs. She really liked spending time with him and felt at ease in his company. Usually she hated being around men because most of them only saw her as a next conquest but Naruto was different.

Two days before the end of the month Naruto finished his sword and the modified seal for the sheath. He found that modifying the seal wasn't that difficult once he thought about it but he wasn't about to complain. The sword also had the same seal engraved like his throwing knives and he had even found a chakra signature seal that only allowed him to draw the weapon. He thought it was fantastic, the sword had exceeded his wildest dreams. When he showed it to Anko she was impressed and told him that he had done a excellent job once again. He asked her if she wanted one but she politely refused his offer saying that she was more of a knife person.

His Rasengan was going great as well, it was a matter of days before he would be able to do it. After that he would master it using the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu like he did with all his jutsu's. Speaking of jutsu's Anko had taught him several Doton jutsu like the 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu', the 'Doton: Doryuuheki No Jutsu' she also taught him a few Suiton jutsu as well. Now he had several Katon, Doton, Suiton and variations of the Kage Bunshin in his arsenal. He hadn't started on making his own jutsu yet because he first wanted to master all these jutsu and the Rasengan. After that maybe he would start on his own jutsu's.

"Naruto, would you like Sandaime to know what was written in the letter? What about the fact that you're learning the Rasengan and Hiraishin No Jutsu? It's up to you to decide what I tell him." Anko said preparing her report for the next day.

"You can tell him about the letter, I don't mind besides I'm sure he's worried about how I took it. So tell him what was in the letter no problem. But don't tell him about the jutsu's and that I'm learning them or anything. I want to surprise him later on, can you imagine his face when I do the Rasengan before his eyes. He'll won't know what hit him." Naruto said already seeing his Ji-chan's face in his mind making a smile appear on his face.

"Good thinking, Naruto. Glad to see that you still have that mischievous side intact. I can't wait to see their faces when you show them the Rasengan in the Chuunin exam. That will be one event I wouldn't want to miss." Anko said also with a mischievous smile on her face. She loved this kind of stuff and Naruto was a lot like her in that department.

She would pay big bucks to be in the front seat for that show. Anko looked at her list of things she needed to bring back for Naruto. First there was the normal grocery shopping then she needed to get a book on Kenjutsu, several new shirts, new gloves and a belt to put his sword on. Hideki would be pleased she thought. Saying good night to Naruto she went to bed so she would be well rested for her trip to the village.

Next morning Naruto got up early and told himself that today would be the day that he could perform the Rasengan. He needed to get this done so he could move on the new jutsu's if he wanted the impress his Ji-chan. So he went outside, made breakfast for both of them and started on his training. When Anko finished her breakfast she couldn't help but smile at Naruto's face when she saw him concentrating like never before. Her smile changed to shock when a perfect Rasengan appeared in Naruto's palm. 'Unbelievable, he had learned an A-rank jutsu without any help in just a month!' She thought. Once again Naruto proved to her that he was nothing short of a genius when it came to practical learning. Naruto on the other hand was moving towards the tree to see what kind of damage the Rasengan really did, so he slammed it right into the tree. When the dust cleared Naruto and Anko stared at the large hole the Rasengan made in the tree.

'Wow, if this is the damage the Rasengan does to a tree, imagine what kind of damage it would do to a human being.' Naruto and Anko thought while staring at the tree.

They looked at each other and started grinning at the thought of using the Rasengan in front of everybody in Konoha. They would freak out that's for sure. Now that he had proved he could do it he would master it by using the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu in no time. Now he could concentrate on something else like his sealing studies or his jutsu making. Seeing that he was going to try the Rasengan again she quickly told him that she would see him tonight and left. Naruto nodded and turned his focus back on the task at hand. Now that he had done it once, he should be able to do it again without a problem. Several successful tries later he deemed it good enough and make a few dozen clones to start mastering it. He wanted to be able to use it without having the need to concentrate for several seconds. In a fight those seconds could mean life or dead. Seeing his clones practicing he went to the other side of the clearing and started on making some new throwing knives. He still had lots of metal available but he decided to use scrap metal to make some disposable throwing knives since you couldn't always collect every weapon you threw in battle. He thought it would be a waste of material if he left his high quality knives behind on the battle field and with the use of the seal even the knives made from scrap metal would be strong enough. He also had a storage seal he wanted to modify so that he could place it on his holster and then by channeling a small amount of chakra into the seal one knife would appear at the time. So that's what he did while Anko was giving her report to Ji-chan.

Anko had given her report to a stressed Hokage, he was stressed because he was afraid how Naruto would react when he learned the truth about his heritage. When Anko told him that he had nothing to worry about he slumped into his chair releasing a deep breath immensely happy that Naruto understood his actions. He listened to Anko's report and was very pleased with Naruto's progress. He was looking forward to seeing his adoptive grandson again. He really missed the boy's energetic behavior and the visits Naruto gave him. He also noticed some changes in Anko's behavior and he smiled. Apparently the two had a good influence on each other.

After giving her report Anko she quickly bought the necessary food supplies and went to the library to pick up a book on Kenjutsu and after that she went to see Hideki and bought Naruto some new shirts, gloves and a belt to put his sword on. When Hideki asked why he needed a belt Anko quickly explained about the beautiful sword Naruto had forged. Hideki told her that Naruto would have to come and show it to him the first chance he got. Nodding she left the store trying to find Kurenai who she found waiting for her at their usual spot. They talked for about an hour. Anko telling about the time Naruto tried to prank her while Kurenai told her about how she had to punish one of her students for peeking into the women's baths at the hotspring. Anko swore she would remember that and told Kurenai that if she caught him peeping on her she would be one student short. Kurenai laughed but still made Anko promise not to kill her student if possible.

"Anko, what will you and Naruto do after the six months of training? I mean will you do missions on your own or what?" Kurenai asked suddenly.

"I really don't know yet. I haven't really thought about but now that you bring this up maybe I should start planning for things after the training." Anko said wondering why she hadn't thought of this before.

"I have an idea that might work. You know that Hinata, Kiba and Shino are all clan heirs right?" seeing Anko nod she continued.

"Being an heir means that every once in a while they have clan obligations like training with clan members or missions with clan members. This leaves my team incomplete and because of that we can't do any missions during that time. What if we asked Sandaime if you and Naruto could join Team 8? Naruto would be able fill in for the missing person and he would also learn how to work in a team. And when there's no mission you two could join our team training. You could help me train my students on area's I'm not familiar with like assassination and interrogation. It would benefit all of us." Kurenai finished.

"You think your students would be okay with that? I mean they don't know that Naruto graduated and even though they got along during their time in the academy they weren't the best of friends." Anko said thinking about her friends idea. She had to admit she kind of liked it. Naruto needed some friends of his own age as well she realized.

"I'm sure they'll be fine besides like you said Naruto isn't the same Naruto from the academy anymore. And it will allow them to learn from each other as well." Kurenai said hoping Anko would agree. She would enjoy having her friend around and Naruto would make a fine addition to the team.

"Fine I'll discuss it with the Hokage next month until then don't tell your students about this. I'm pretty sure he will agree but best be sure before we make any announcements." Anko said to Kurenai.

Kurenai nodded happy that Anko decided to give her idea a chance, she really wanted to have her friend around because she missed their daily talks and fun. It sounded a bit selfish but she didn't care, they would all benefit from this arrangement she was sure of that. After that they talked a little about how things were going in the village Anko got up and said her goodbye since it was getting late and she was sure that Naruto would be waiting for her to start diner. She hugged Kurenai and told her that they would meet again next month same place same time.

Kurenai looked at her friend who was already hopping over the rooftops and couldn't help but think about how much Anko had changed over the past few months. Before, she had been the only true friend Anko had and it saddened her to see a wonderful person like Anko being so lonely. But now she had really opened up, it seemed Naruto had become a major part in her life and for that she was very thankful to the young shinobi. The Anko she saw today was a cheerful one like she always was but now she smiled like never before. It was a smile that seemed to be coming from her heart and it warmed Kurenai's heart as well. She really hoped they would be able to join Team 8, it would be great she thought.

When Anko arrived back in the clearing she saw Naruto working on his forging and wondered what he was making now.

"I'm back, Naruto. Did something happen while I was gone?" Anko called out to Naruto.

"Ah, welcome back. Everything went fine, I started on practicing the Rasengan with the help from some Kage Bunshins and did the rest of my exercises as well." Naruto replied happy she was back.

"That's good. So what are you working on now? A new sword?" Anko asked as she came over to him.

"No, not a new sword. I decided to make some disposable throwing knives from the scrap metal I received from Hideki-san." Naruto said putting a newly finished one on the side.

"Disposable? Why? Is the scrap metal strong enough to make real weapons out of?" Anko asked curiously.

"Well, I figured why make throwing knives out of that high quality metal when I'm pretty sure I will use them in battle and then lose some of them as well. And yes normally scrap metal wouldn't be good enough to make weapons from but you're forgetting the seal that allows to put a chakra casing around it. When using that the weapons will be good enough to use in battle." Naruto explained his reasoning.

"Good thinking Gaki, now let's have diner because I'm starving." She said smiling.

Naruto happily agreed on having diner since he was very hungry as well. So they went inside the cave and started making diner. They spend the rest of the evening inside and relax each in his own way. Naruto took out his book on Kenjutsu and started reading it since he wanted to work on creating his own Kenjutsu style. But in order to do that he would first have to learn the basics and like everything this would take some time.

The next morning Naruto woke up thinking about the past three months of his live, he thought about the progress he had made thanks to his training with Anko and all the things he had learned from her. She truly was a wonderful teacher, strict and hard but fair and helpful when needed. Today they would go over his training schedule and see if it needed some adjustments in some areas. She had asked him to think about what he thought could use some more training and what he wanted to learn. His chakra control was taken care of thanks to his clones and he had mastered almost all the kata's in both Taekwondo and Aikido so now he wanted to combine them into his own style, he would take the moves he wanted from both styles and create his own kata's and that would eventually become the Uzumaki taijutsu style. Until now they sparred using Taekwondo or Aikido but they had never mixed the two styles before so he decided to focus on that this month. He realized that it would take a lot of work to create his own style but he didn't mind that at all.

One other thing he wanted to work on was his Kenjutsu, now that he had his own sword he would have to learn how to use it efficiently. Just swinging the sword around was not what he wanted to do, not only would it be an insult to true Kenjutsu masters but he felt that if he wanted to do something he should do it correctly. So he wanted to study the basics first and when he had sufficiently mastered them then he would make his own style. He realized that he was actually creating a lot of new styles, a new Taijutsu style and now a Kenjutsu style as well. He wondered if he would be able to succeed in all this. In the end it didn't matter he would do it anyway, it was not like he was on a time schedule or something. If it took him months to complete something then he would do so without complaining knowing that when he did finish it he would have done it on his own (with help from Anko off course).

He got up out of bed and prepared for the new day seeing that Anko was already outside waiting for him to start on breakfast. This had been their little morning routine. Even though Anko almost always woke up first it was Naruto who prepared breakfast since Anko wasn't much of a morning person to begin with. He wished her a good morning and prepared some coffee for her and started on baking some eggs and bacon for the both of them.

Anko happily took the cup of coffee from Naruto and started to wake up, oh how she hated getting up in the morning she thought. She enjoyed lying in a warm bed in the morning and getting up was the worst part of the day in her opinion. Luckily Naruto was willing to make breakfast for her, she was very grateful for that. Seeing breakfast was ready she sat next to him and started eating wondering how she would survive after the mornings after their six months training was done. She would miss these delicious breakfasts she realized.

After Naruto told her what he wanted to work on for the next few months she quickly made a new schedule and got to work. They both realized they had much work to do and little time to do it in. She would help him with his Taijutsu but seeing she knew next to nothing about Kenjutsu he would be on his own for that she told him. He didn't let that stop him and told her he was very glad she could help him on his Taijutsu.

Besides the Taijutsu and Kenjutsu training Naruto would focus on stamina, speed and strength training as well. She also had a few jutsu in mind that she would teach him later on. The last months of training promised to be exiting and she could hardly wait for the results. She and Naruto would show Konoha what they could do and the chuunin exams were just the place to do it she thought. She would have to get good seats so she could see all the shocked faces on those old farts of the council and the other Jounin sensei's. Priceless she thought.

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This conclude chapter 6 of 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'

After the many reviews saying that more conversation between characters is needed I tried to incorporate them in this chapter. It's not perfect yet but I'm sure that the next chapter will be much better since Naruto and Anko will go back to the village where they will have more chance to interact with other characters.

Mr. Lee, I will post some comments on your review next chapter. I thank you for your review, it was very informative yet respectful just like a critical review should be. Don't worry about offending me or anything I found it very interesting and you did bring up some good points as well. So thank you.

Next chapter will be online on Sunday the 9th of March 'Chapter 7: Back in the village


	7. Chapter 7: Back to the village

I don't own Naruto. Maybe best because I suck at drawing.

Once again I would like to thank all the people who reviewed. I still find it unbelievable that so many people read and like my story.

Last week I once again got a very good review (and several PM's lol ) from a very well respected fanfiction author named Mr. Lee. He actually wrote a very well constructed and fair review of my story and I thank him for that. Like I said on the end note of the previous chapter, the review was written in a respectful way while he discussed and pointed out some very good flaws or mishaps that I wrote. I won't discuss all of them because on some points he's absolutely right.

He told that I made a mistake by making Naruto learn the two taijutsu styles at the same time because mastering a style takes years of devotion and training. Off course he's right on that. I practiced Taekwondo myself for several years, though I haven't practiced Aikido so I hope I didn't offend anyone with this. What I was trying to do was telling that Naruto would take the moves from both styles that he personally liked and combine them into his own style. Maybe I should go back and rewrite that part so it's more clear for everyone?

He also said that Naruto was close to being too strong even though I tried not to make this a super Naruto. He said that Naruto knows too many strong jutsu's to be considered only chuunin level. Though I agree that Naruto does know several high rank jutsu that doesn't make him too strong too fast in my honest opinion. I believe that shinobi ranks are based on overall skills, so even when he's considered above normal level in ninjutsu that doesn't make him capable of being a chuunin or Jounin. So that's why Anko only rated him Chuunin level when she was asked by the Sandaime.

He also said that genin are supposed to do a least 8 D-rank or higher mission before they could compete in the Chuunin exam. That was the case in the manga but in my story they will need a lot more missions. Personally I find 8 mission likes 'capture the cat' or the like will never teach them the necessary skills a Chuunin would need. Off course the manga and anime skipped over those missions since showing them would be pointless but still having done 8 missions as the entrance requirement for the exams seems really stupid and irresponsible in my humble opinion.

Mr. Lee had several other comments that made some very good arguments but writing everything down would just be too long. So instead I'm thanking Mr. Lee for his review and hope that he likes the following chapters where I will try to improve on the points he remarked. Please continue to review on my bad points I learn a lot from it and the story will only get better that way.

The last thing I would like to say is that a few people asked in their reviews if I forgot about the gravity seal and the paper to determine his chakra element. Rest assured that I didn't forget about it, they will make an appearance later on in the story. I did this on purpose so you guys have something to watch out for.

Now after all this talking I give you Chapter 7. Hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 7: Back in the village

The last 3 months Naruto and Anko spent on several things. Naruto had started Kenjutsu training which he liked a lot and he had now almost mastered the basics and would soon start on making his own techniques, he had also made good progress with his own Taijutsu style as well. The style which combined the moves he liked the most of the two styles was just perfect for him. He was getting really good at it too. He also made a large number of disposable throwing knives from scrap metal and had made a special seal that he placed on his holster and allowed him to take a knife just by channeling a miniscule amount of chakra into the seal. The belt he had bought hold his sword with ease on his lower back in a horizontal position, all Naruto had to do was grab the handle and a sword with a 27 inch blade would slide out a 10 inch length sheath. He had mastered several new jutsu. All in all Naruto had become a strong genin that would be able to hold his own against a lot of shinobi. The thing he needed the most of all was experience but that would come with the missions they would do. There were 5 months before the chuunin exam would take place and she told Naruto that he would enter no matter what. Naruto didn't disagree, becoming chuunin was the next step and he felt that he was ready for it.

So now they were on their way to the village after six months of training and Naruto couldn't wait to see his Ji-chan, Iruka and Hideki-san. He wanted to show them how strong he had gotten and that he was worthy of their trust in him. He also couldn't wait to go to Ichiraku's and have some ramen. He really missed his ramen, but thanks to a healthy diet he had grown some 3 inches. No longer was he a shrimp in his own eyes. Thinking about all of this got him really excited and he picked up the pace.

Anko who had been in front let Naruto pass knowing he was anxious to get back. She looked at him and no longer saw a small boy with fierce determination, no that boy had become a young man she was very proud of. Naruto had grown a lot these past six months not only in a psychical way but also emotionally he became a young man full of confidence and a drive to never give up no matter what. She was very glad to know him and she felt honored that she was one of his precious people. She had become very attached to the young shinobi but she didn't know in which way just yet. It could be a sisterly way of attachment though if she was honest with herself she knew it wasn't that kind of attachment. No, it was much more than that but she didn't want to think about that right know beside there was little chance Naruto would feel the same for her. If she had know how Naruto truly felt about her she would have know that that chance wasn't little at all.

Seeing that they had arrived at the main gate she cleared her head of such thoughts and stepped up beside him. They entered through the gate and went straight for the Hokage tower where they would meet with the Hokage, Iruka and Hideki at Naruto's request. Passing through town Naruto noticed that not much had changed since he left and he was kind of glad, he like the village just as it was. Arriving at the tower they quickly went up to the 'appointment lady' as Naruto liked to call her and asked if they could enter. She nodded telling them that everyone was waiting for them. They thanked her and knocked on the door, hearing the ok to enter the opened the door.

Sarutobi, Iruka and Hideki had been patiently waiting for their 2 guest to arrive. All three of them had been waiting for this day for six months, last month Anko had asked if Sarutobi could gather Iruka and Hideki when they returned. The last week proved to be an amazing test for their patience and their nerves. None of them had slept very well last night because they were so nervous to see Naruto again. So when they heard a knock on the door, the three of them jumped up from their chair and waited for them to come in. Sarutobi quickly gave permission to enter and the three of held their breath wondering what they would happen next.

Anko entered the room first and said hello to everybody while Naruto stood straight behind her so she would block him from their view. The three of them mumbled a hello and tried to look behind her, seeing this Anko stepped aside with a smile on her face never taking her eyes off the three men standing there.

Nothing could have prepared them for when they saw the new Naruto standing there in the office. Naruto stood there with a smile that could light up the room in complete darkness. He took a few steps forward and made his way over to the three men.

"Ji-chan, Iruka sensei, Hideki-san its great seeing the three of you again. I'm glad to see you all in good health. I've missed you guy's very much." Naruto said smiling.

Sarutobi couldn't believe his eyes. For a moment he thought that Minato had come back to life, the resemblance was staggering. They could almost pass for twins if you didn't look at Naruto's whiskered cheeks. He took a good look at Naruto. The boy had grown a few inches, his hair was longer than before and he believed Naruto had a small ponytail, he certainly gained some muscles but still had a lean body like he used to have. But what surprised him the most were Naruto's eyes, they showed happiness and love something Naruto couldn't fake no matter what. For the first time he saw a truly happy Naruto and it couldn't make him happier. Anko had been the best teacher Naruto could ever have had he realized. He would have to reward her, maybe give her a promotion or something he would figure out that part later on.

Iruka had about the same thoughts as Sandaime. Naruto had definitely become strong and powerful. Everything about Naruto's stance screamed confidence and pure strength, Naruto's smile showed that it was an honest and true smile not like the ones before where he would hide behind a fake smile. Naruto had changed from a small boy to a powerful young man, he couldn't help but wonder what kind of training he had done. Looking at him Iruka noticed the changes in his former student. Gone was the small boy he considered one of his favorite students, he had evolved into a young man ready for whatever life would throw at him and willing to fight for those he loved. He could see the sheer determination in Naruto's eyes, they showed him that he would never give up and always succeed in the thing that needed to be done no matter what the odds. He would have to thank Anko for doing such a great job in teaching Naruto.

Hideki no longer saw the small little boy who had entered his shop six months ago but saw a young man full of live and happiness. He was really glad that he had the chance to get to know this wonderful boy who seemed the be well on his way to become the best shinobi ever lived. He just hoped that he lived long enough to be able to brag to others that he knew the Uzumaki Naruto.

"Naruto, it's so good to see you again after all these months? You look great, I'm sure you have become very strong if I'm to believe Anko reports. I can't wait see what you have learned, but I'm sure we will see that during the chuunin exam in five months. For now welcome back and I wish you good luck on your missions that will start tomorrow." Sandaime said smiling at his adopted grandson.

"It's good to see you too Ji-chan. And I promise you that you'll be surprised when you see how I perform at the Chuunin exams." Naruto said with a large smile.

"I'm sure that Anko explained to you that at first you will have to do about 25 D-rank missions before you can go on to C-rank. We, that is Anko, Kurenai and myself have decided that you will be a extra member of Team 8 since all three members are heirs to their clan and each of them has several clan duties which makes them unavailable for team practice and missions. You will have to complete the necessary 25 D-rank missions on your own and after that you'll be able to join them for every other missions they receive." Sandaime continued his explanation. He laughed at Naruto's face when he heard about the number of D-rank missions he would have to do.

"25 D-rank missions? That much? Oh man, I was hoping there would be like five of them." Naruto said a little disappointed. Anko didn't mentioned that he thought. He looked over at her and saw her grinning evilly at his expense.

"You don't have to grin that way Anko-sensei. You'll be joining me for those missions, all 25 of them." Naruto said trying to get a little revenge. He smiled when he saw Anko's grin disappear from her face.

"Off course with the use of Kage Bunshins 25 D-rank missions are of no concern to you. I will allow up to 5 missions a day so in 5 days you should be done with those. Is there anything you want to add?" Sandaime explained to Naruto.

"Yeah, can we go to Ichiraku's? I'm starving and I really missed their ramen. Besides I want to talk to you guys. I want to know what you guys have been doing while I was away." Naruto said smiling at them.

They all laughed at Naruto's request but they gladly agreed and they made their way over to Ichiraku's. When they arrived Naruto was greeted from the old man and his daughter who said that they missed his visits a lot. They were very happy that Naruto was back because this meant business would be good again. They all sat down and ordered some ramen and started talking amongst each other. Iruka saw his chance to talk to Anko and to thank her.

"Anko-san, I want to thank you for doing such an excellent job in teaching Naruto." Iruka said while bowing his head a little showing his respect to the woman next to him.

"No need to thank me Iruka, it was my pleasure teaching Naruto. He's a really talented shinobi and mark my words he will become the best ever. There's no doubt in my mind about that." Anko said reassuring Iruka.

"I always knew Naruto was somewhat talented but I never thought he could be become that strong in only six months. What kind of training did you give him? I never got him to be very attentive and motivated during his time at the academy. " He asked her. He really wanted to know how Anko has succeeded in teaching Naruto when he couldn't.

"Iruka before you start blaming yourself you should know that it wasn't your fault at all. In fact Naruto told me that you were the only teacher in the academy who taught him anything. The others just ignored him or picked on him. By the time you became his teacher he was already behind in so many things he should have been taught that he simply couldn't follow in your class." Anko said making Iruka think about Naruto's time at the academy.

"Why didn't I see that? I was supposed to be his teacher, I should have done something." Iruka said furious with himself. He should have know how his so called colleagues treated Naruto. No wonder Naruto had trouble in his year. Every year build on the previous year so the last year required all the knowledge the students had acquired in all those years.

"Stop it Iruka. Naruto doesn't blame you for anything, on the contrary he is grateful for you guidance and the way you treated him. You were one of the first people who saw him as Uzumaki Naruto. He will never forget that. So stop moping and cheer up." Anko said stopping the chuunin from blaming himself. She smiled when she saw Iruka sitting a little straighter and looking better.

Iruka nodded and started asking her some questions about his training and the things Naruto had learned. Anko happily told Iruka about their time in the forest and the training they did. She was careful however not to tell any secrets about his parents, the Rasengan and all the other things they wanted to keep a secret for now. The five of them had a very nice time talking to each other about the things that had happened in the last six months. After spending some time Anko told them that they would have to say goodbye since they had a meeting with Kurenai and Team 8. They quickly promised to visit each of them later on and left for the training grounds.

Anko lead him to a special training area where Kurenai and her team always practiced in the afternoon every other day. Naruto was quite nervous to see his old classmates again, he hoped they would get along and become friends. He knew who was in Team 8 thanks to Anko who when she had lectured him on every clan in Konoha gave Team 8 up as example of a tracking team. He remembered how Kiba, Shino and Hinata were when they were still in the academy but he figured that they would have become much stronger since graduation. In the end he tried to stop worrying and take the things as they came.

"Relax Naruto-kun, everything will be fine." Anko said trying to stop Naruto from worrying too much. Though she understood why he was nervous, she knew that he didn't have much friends at the academy. Since most saw him as the class clown and dead last.

"I'm trying Anko-chan but I can't help it. I just hope we'll get along and that I don't screw things up by acting like my former self." Naruto admitted.

"Stop it Naruto! You're not the same Naruto from six months ago and you know it. And if you don't stop with thinking like that I'll use you for target practice!" Anko said sternly. It wouldn't do if Naruto lost his confidence now, he needed to impress his future teammates and sensei.

"You're right. I changed a lot and got stronger too, so I shouldn't have to worry. Thanks Anko-chan." Naruto said flashing a smile at her.

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun. Just remember to be yourself okay? No mask whatsoever." Anko answered with a smile of her own.

Naruto nodded and a few minutes later they arrived at the training grounds and saw that Kurenai and her students weren't there yet, so they decided to sit down and relax for the time being. Naruto asked her what they would be doing this afternoon, would they train of just get to know each other? But just as Anko was about to answer 4 people and 1 dog arrived at the grounds. Anko grinned and stood up, Naruto followed as well not wanting to be rude.

Kurenai and her team arrived at the grounds and Kurenai was very curious to meet Anko's star student as she called him. She had told her team that they would get a extra member to help out but she hadn't told them who wanting it to be a surprise. She hoped she did the right thing by not telling, she would hate to ruin the whole thing if her team react badly. She was a little worried about Kiba since he would often speak without thinking but she hoped that he would have the common sense not to. Kiba, Shino and Hinata were very curious to meet the new member of Team 8, they had only been told about this the day before so it was all very new for them.

"Anko welcome back. How have you been? And this must be Naruto if I'm not mistaken? It's a pleasure to meet you Naruto, Anko has told a lot about you. I'm glad to have you on our team and I'm sure we'll get along fine." Kurenai said. Anko nodded and told that she was doing fine.

"Good afternoon Kurenai sensei, it's a pleasure meeting you at last. Anko sensei told me a lot about you as well. I'm honored that you would have me on your team. I assure I will do my very best to be a proud member of this team." Naruto said introducing himself.

"The honor is all ours Naruto. I would like to introduce you to the other members of our team. On the left is Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, in the middle is Hyuuga Hinata and on the right is Aburame Shino. Now I know that the four of you know each other from the academy but since it has been six months why don't we introduce ourselves? Alright why don't you start Kiba." Kurenai said finished introducing her team.

Kiba started introducing himself saying that he wanted to be the best Inuzaka clan head ever and hopefully beat his sister in a sparring match. Shino introduced himself by stating his name and then shutting up. Hinata however started stuttering and stammering some words before she fainted. Naruto would have laughed but since he didn't know if it was serious or not he looked over at Kurenai sensei who told him that she would be fine in a few minutes. After that Naruto introduced himself by telling him dreams for the future and his hobbies. Anko and Kurenai introduced themselves as well therefore finishing the introduction rounds. Anko and Kurenai told the kids that they could talk amongst themselves while they would make some arrangements for the following week. So the 4 kids separated themselves from the two women and started talking.

"Naruto, I didn't know you graduated from the academy? Hell, I haven't seen you in the village for months. What happened?" Kiba exclaimed no longer able to hold back his questions.

Naruto very briefly explained the mess with Mizuki, meeting Anko and the training he received in the Forest of Death. He left out everything about the Kyuubi, his parents, his own secrets and the jutsu's he learned from his dad. He did tell them about the things he learned from Anko and his taijutsu knowing that they would see that soon anyway. Team 8 was surprised to say the least when they heard about Naruto's past six months.

"Man, so you kicked Mizuki's ass huh? Nice, I never liked the guy anyway. But man, spending six months in that forest must have been brutal. I heard my sister talk about it, she said it is a very dangerous place even for Jounin." Kiba said impressed.

Shino also knowing about the dangers of the Forest of Death nodded telling Naruto that he respected him for surviving in such a harsh environment.

"N-N-Naruto-kun you m-must have b-become very s-strong?" Hinata managed to say after a few seconds of trying.

"I learned a lot from Anko sensei but there's still much I need to learn." Naruto assured her. Sure he had gotten stronger in those six months but he was sure that he still had much to learn. Besides Anko told him repeatedly that he was still a rookie.

"I'm sure you guys have gotten much stronger as well. Besides you have so much more experiences by doing missions all this time. I will have to work hard to catch up with the three of you." Naruto said.

"Experience? Sure we've gotten experienced at catching that damn cat (Akamaru growled at hearing the word cat) . Or doing stupid chores other villagers are too lazy to do themselves. Don't worry Naruto those D-rank missions are a joke, first year academy students could do those stupid missions. We only had a few C-rank missions and those were only slightly above D-rank anyway. Hopefully now that you're here we'll get some exciting missions."Kiba said laughing.

Naruto smiled knowing that Kiba was right about those D-rank missions. Hinata and Shino nodded as well and they gave some of their own opinions of the famous D-rank missions. After talking for a while Kiba asked if Naruto wanted to have a sparring match, Naruto said he would be happy to have a spar but only if they got permission from their sensei. Hinata quickly said she was going to ask their sensei's for permission. Two minutes later she came back with Anko and Kurenai in tow. Anko and Kurenai knew that this was a way for the 2 boy's to bond quickly agreed to a sparring match. Though Anko told them to take it easy on each other since they were now teammates. Both boys nodded their agreement and took a fighting stance. Anko and Kurenai would be refereeing the match. There would be two parts, a taijutsu part and a ninjutsu part so they could judge each other.

"Alright Naruto, let me show you what I can do. Don't hold back on our account, Akamaru and me are strong enough." Kiba said confidently.

Naruto nodded and got ready for Kiba's attack. Kiba seeing that Naruto wanted him to start attacking shot forward trying to punch Naruto in the face. Naruto calmly blocked the punch with his left forearm and grabbed Kiba by the back of his neck with his right hand and pulled him down towards the ground where Naruto's knee planted itself into Kiba's stomach. Seeing that Akamaru was ready to defends his master Naruto quickly jumped back, he didn't want to hurt a puppy. Kiba not having expected such a move took a heavy blow to his stomach and he was on his hands and knees trying to recover. Naruto let him have the time he needed. When Kiba got back up he nodded to Naruto that it was ok for him to attack if he wanted since he decided to be on the defensive side this time.

Naruto nodded and started his attack, he ran up to Kiba and lifted his left leg to make a kick to Kiba's right side. Kiba seeing this prepared to block the kick but the only thing he felt was a soft pain before he got kicked in the side of face. Naruto had used a feint to make Kiba guard his ribs but after that really weak kick instead of putting his foot down like Kiba thought he would Naruto slightly pulled back his leg and raised it to kick him in the face. Seeing stars Kiba took a few steps back in case Naruto attacked again luckily for him Anko and Kurenai ended the Taijutsu part at that moment.

Kurenai, Hinata and Shino stood there shocked that Kiba lost in both an offensive and defensive taijutsu spar. Kiba's taijutsu was not the best around but he would give a lot of genin trouble and Naruto defeated him without trouble. Though the moves Naruto made seemed simple they were very efficient and powerful.

"Are you ok Kiba?" Naruto said hoping that he didn't hurt his new teammate too much.

"Don't worry Naruto, I'll be fine in a moment. You caught me off guard with that move. I thought you were aiming for my ribs and didn't expect you to follow up with a kick to the head." Kiba said shaking his head clear.

"Yeah, the first was a feint. Guess it worked huh?" Naruto said smiling.

"It worked all right. Fine, you win the taijutsu part but you won't have such an easy time with the Ninjutsu part since now Akamaru and me will both take you on." Kiba said confidently.

"We'll see, Kiba but I won't go down without a fight." Naruto said rising to the challenge.

"Seems like Kiba and Naruto will get along fine, don't you think?" Kurenai said to Anko seeing how both of them were interacting.

"Yeah, seems like I worried for nothing. I'm very glad they get along because no matter how well Naruto and I get along, he still needs friends of his own age as well." Anko said very happy that Naruto seemed to enjoy himself. She had been a little concerned about how Team 8 would react to Naruto but it seemed her worries were unjustified.

"Tell me Anko, how well do you and Naruto get along?" Kurenai asked teasing her friend.

"Don't imaging things that aren't there Kurenai. Naruto and I are just good friends, I assure you." Anko said with a small blush on her face.

"If you say so Anko, but why are you blushing?" Kurenai asked. This was perfect payback for all the teasing Anko did to her about Asuma.

"I'm not blushing!" Anko whispered in a tone that said 'drop it or else'.

"Fine, I'm sorry for teasing you Anko." Kurenai said smiling.

After a minute Kiba said he could continue to the ninjutsu part of the match. Seeing as he now could use his combinations jutsu with Akamaru he was a little more confident than about the taijutsu part but he made himself remember not to underestimate Naruto anymore. Naruto nodded saying he was ready as well. They both took a stance waiting for the signal which would start the match. When Kiba heard Kurenai giving the signal he attacked.

"Akamaru, here we go! Juujin Bunshin No Jutsu!" Kiba yelled out and Akamaru barked. Suddenly Naruto saw two Kiba glaring down on him. Since he hadn't seen any of Kiba's jutsu's before he decided to stay on the defense.

"Gatsuuga!" and with that the two Kiba's jumped towards Naruto and started spinning. Naruto didn't need to be explained that he would get hurt if he got hit with that jutsu so he got ready to evade them. After evading them the first time they just turned around and came right at him again. He knew that he couldn't evade forever and that he would get hit eventually if he didn't react. Jumping back a little he started doing hand seals at very high speed.

"Doton: Doryuuheki No Jutsu" Naruto called out. Out of Naruto's mouth came a large stream of mud and erected a wall of mud before him. The two Kiba's who couldn't stop in mid attack crashed right into the wall shattering it a few seconds later. But it came at a prize because it stopped their movement and had hurt them form hitting the solid wall. Shaking their head clear they saw a kunai heading towards them which Kiba dodged it with ease. When they looked in front of them they saw Naruto waiting for the next attack. The original Kiba motioned to his partner to attack again but all of the sudden he felt someone put a sword at his throat.

"Do you yield?" Naruto asked.

Kiba seeing no other option told Anko and Kurenai that he forfeited the match. As she saw that Kurenai was too shocked Anko called the match in Naruto's favor. Naruto sheathed his sword and congratulated Kiba and Akamaru for a great match. Kiba snorted and told Naruto the same. Kurenai, Hinata and Shino started clapping at the both of them for a very nice match.

"How did you get behind me? I didn't see you move at all. How did you do that?" Kiba said wanting to know how Naruto had defeated him.

"I knew that I couldn't keep evading your 'Gatsuuga' for very long so I devised a plan of attack. I used 'Doton: Doryuuheki No Jutsu' to stop your movements and to give me time to make a Kage Bunshin. The wall would also hide me from your view and while you couldn't see me I 'henged' myself into a kunai and make the clone throw me towards you knowing you would dodge it. When you did I transformed back and put my sword at your throat." Naruto explained for Kiba.

"How did you know I was the real Kiba and not Akamaru?" Kiba asked.

"I didn't know who was who but I figured that you wouldn't let Akamaru get hurt or killed so in the end it didn't matter." Naruto explained.

"Yeah, I won't let Akamaru get hurt. He's my partner and my friend." Kiba said while petting Akamaru on the head.

Anko couldn't be more proud of Naruto, he had come up with a very good plan and had performed it flawlessly. It was a well thought out plan and it proved to work just like he predicted. Team 8 and Kurenai stared at Naruto when he explained everything having trouble to believe that Naruto, who people always called untalented and stupid, could come up with such a plan while being under attack. It showed a lot of Naruto's true talent that he could come up with such a perfect plan and that he could perform it as well.

"Yeah about that sword, where did it come from? I didn't see you carrying a sword before you put at my throat." Kiba wondered.

"I have been carrying it all the time. See?" Naruto said as he turned around and pointed to lower back.

Naruto then showed them his sword and the sheath on his lower back. Explaining to them that although it looked like he carried a knife or something it was actually his sword. Team 8 looked amazed that Naruto had such a weapon and wondered where he had acquired it.

"Wow, that's so cool! Where did you get that? I've never seen such a thing before." Kiba said forgetting his loss.

"Euh, well you could say it's a family heirloom in a way." Naruto said evading the question. He didn't want them to know that he forged it himself. He would tell them eventually but not today.

After talking and laughing some more Kurenai dismissed her 3 students and told them that they would meet for team practice the next morning. Saying their goodbye to Naruto, Anko and Kurenai they left excited about their new companions and friends. Kurenai bid Anko and Naruto farewell as she a 'not-date' with Asuma. Naruto and Anko made their way towards Naruto's apartment to check if it was still standing. When they arrived they found his front door broken down, graffiti on the walls and several rocks with hate messages wrapped around them in the room. Naruto sighed, he just got back and those kind of things were already happening. It seemed that some villagers had heard about his return and they wanted to welcome him back. Anko however was furious, how dare they treat her Naruto-kun like that. If she ever found the ones doing this there would be hell to pay. Grabbing Naruto's hand she dragged him out the room and started to make her way to her own home.

"There's no way in hell that I'm allowing you to stay in that place Naruto. You're staying with me from now on. Since I live in a 'shinobi only' building they wouldn't dare to try that there. And I'm not taking a no for an answer." Anko said after Naruto asked her where they were headed.

"Thank you Anko-chan." Naruto said softly while feeling very happy that he would be able to stay with Anko. He really had started to like her after spending so much time with her. He felt comfortable around her and she always could make him smile. Not to mention she was very beautiful and drop dead sexy.

"Don't mention it. Beside I've gotten used to having you around Naruto-kun and I really enjoy your company. So it's a win-win situation for both of us." Anko said winking at Naruto which made him blush a little. She loved it when she could make him blush. She thought it was the cutest thing.

Anko guided him towards the building she lived in, from his apartment it took them only a few minute since they jumped over the rooftops instead of walking. When they arrived Naruto saw a big building that seemed to house several small apartments for shinobi. Anko seeing the look on his face explained that the building had over a hundred living quarters that only chuunin or higher could rent. Each living quarter had a bedroom, a small guestroom, bathroom, a kitchen and a living room and was in fact perfect for a single person living there. She told him that she had been living here for years since it was calm and relatively cheap to rent.

After reaching her floor she went to her door and opened it so Naruto could get inside. He took off his shoes and quietly waited for Anko to tell him it was okay to proceed into the living room. Seeing his hesitation she went over to him to reassure him a little.

"Naruto, what are you waiting for? Go on, come on in there's no need to be shy you know. We've been living together for six months now so make yourself at home okay?" Anko said motioning to Naruto to get his butt inside. She then made her way into the small kitchen to get something to drink.

Naruto made his way into the living room and instantly felt like he belonged here. The room was small but cozy and to him that was something new. His apartment was anything but cozy thanks to some villagers. He placed his backpack next to Anko's and sat down on the couch waiting trying to adjust to this new living environment. Anko came back from the kitchen and gave Naruto a glass of juice and sat down as well.

"You know, I'll miss the cave in the forest. It became a home away from home to me. I really enjoyed the time we spent there." Anko said sipping from her drink.

"Yeah me too, I love the village but like you said the forest and the cave became like a second home. Too bad we couldn't stay any longer huh?" Naruto said leaning back in the comfortable couch.

"Sure but I think we'll be able to enjoy ourselves here as well. Consider this your home from now Naruto-kun." She said softly.

"Thanks Anko-chan, that means a lot to mean, more than you'll ever know." Naruto said looking straight at Anko.

"So what do you think about Team 8? Think you'll get along with everyone?" Anko asked trying to cheer Naruto up a little.

"I think we'll get along fine. I mean Kiba is strong and he has some very powerful jutsu's when he fights with Akamaru. We got along fine in the academy most of the time. We were both slackers when it came to homework and tests so we spend some time together during Iruka's punishment classes. I think we'll be fine." Naruto said after thinking for a moment. Anko nodded glad he and Kiba would get along.

"Then there's Hinata, I admit not knowing a lot about her but she seems a nice girl even if she still as shy like before. She fainted while introducing herself to me, really weird but we should get along." Naruto said smiling a little bit. Anko actually let out a small chuckle when she remembered Hinata's introduction. She and Kurenai had already decided to have a talk with the girl about her problems with her confidence.

"What about Shino? Kurenai told me that she still hadn't got through to him."Anko said. The Aburame clan was known for their calm and sometimes cold attitude towards others.

"Shino, now he's a mystery to me, while I know about his family and his family style of fighting I know nothing about him personally. He used to be quiet in class and a little reserved as well. But he's strong and intelligent so that should be no problem." Naruto finished.

Anko nodded and asked him what he wanted to do for diner seeing she didn't have anything in the fridge. Naruto suggested that they could have her favorite since they already ate ramen earlier today. She happily agreed and they made their way over to her favorite dango place. Since it was still early in the evening the place was a good as empty and they took a seat that was a little bit secluded from the rest of the place. Anko ordered several plates of dango while Naruto ordered himself a okonomiyaki which Anko said was the best here as well. They talked a bit about those pesky D-rank missions they would have to do in the following days and when their food arrived they ate in silence each enjoying a nice and tasteful diner.

* * *

This concludes Chapter 7 of 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'

I hope everyone liked it, I tried to listen to the reviews and added some more dialogue between chapters and I must say when I read it it did read more enjoyable so I will try to improve on that part.

I didn't descripe the last of the three months of training because otherwise it would be too long and boring in my opinion. I hope everyone like the fightscene between Naruto and Kiba.

Expect Chapter 8 on March 16th

Chapter 8: To Wave country


	8. Chapter 8: To Wave country

I don't own Naruto, I wish I did since then I wouldn't have to worry about paying the bills. On the other hand drawing a whole chapter a week seems pretty stressful.

Thank you once again for all your reviews. I still can't believe so many people read my story. At first I didn't understand why authors liked reviews so much but now I do. It really helps to make the story better and it feels great to be appreciated. I made a resolve to start writing reviews myself from now on.

Several people wrote really helpful reviews like Final Sleeper, Mr. Lee, Dragon Noir and many others. Thank you very much.

Last week was a very hectic week in school so I've been very busy but no worries this will not influence the release of chapters. Still it gave me less time to recheck this chapter for spelling mistakes and the like so if you find some let me know. I try to write correctly and without mistakes so that reading is enjoyable for everyone. Sometimes very good stories have terrible spelling or grammar (I don't blame the authors since not everybody has English as their second or third language) which makes them hard to read. I still read them because I like the story off course.

My English is far from perfect but if there are people out there who want help with their story don't hesitate to pm me, I would love to help.

Now I present to you Chapter 8 of 'The Story of Uzumaki Naruto'. Hope you enjoy.

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Chapter 8: To Wave country 

For the next five days Naruto and Anko had been doing the necessary 25 D-rank missions and Anko was about to go crazy from doing these pointless chores. Truth be said Naruto was about to do the same. These weren't missions, they were mindless chores that didn't have any training value what so ever. Naruto had to chase down the daimyo's stupid cat three time in 2 days, the third time Naruto looked the cat in the eyes and told it that if he would escape one more this week he would regret it very much. After that the cat stayed home patiently waiting for the week to end so he could escape his mistress choking arms once more. Anko told Naruto that the stupid cat escaped a fate worse than death by staying at home as she was about to do some serious damage to it. Finally after five days of chasing cats, painting a fence, doing groceries for old people they had done the necessary D-rank missions. Now they could join Team 8 on C-rank missions hoping those wouldn't be so boring and useless.

Naruto who had been staying with Anko since they got back opened his eyes and got up to start on breakfast. Ever since they started their training at the forest Naruto had always been the one to make breakfast. He didn't mind one bit, he actually liked making breakfast for him and Anko. They had really gotten close over the past months, though he knew she wasn't interested in a relationship outside friends he secretly started to hope that one day they would be more than just good friends. He remembered his dad's words about finding love and he believed that Anko was everything he would ever want in a girlfriend and/or wife. Though for now they were good friends and that was more than enough for now in his opinion.

Anko woke up hearing Naruto preparing breakfast in the kitchen. She wrapped her body into her sheet and thought about the young man currently making her breakfast. The more she thought about it or him the more she realized she liked him a lot. She really liked him, she felt so comfortable around him knowing that she didn't have to put on her mask when she was with him. Even though she was older than him she too used to have to deal with loneliness and hateful villagers. It hurt a lot then and it still hurt now and after years of pretending to be someone she was not it felt immensely good to be able to be herself. A lonely girl searching for acceptance and love. She had found a great friend in Kurenai but it wasn't the same as with Naruto. He could make her smile like nobody else could, by saying a gentle word or a simple look he could comfort her and it made her feel very much alive and happy. She knew that she was about 10 years older but she didn't care, age didn't matter to her and she was willing to wait for him until she thought he was ready. Clearing her head she got up and got dressed into her pajama's. She was hungry and breakfast smelled great like always.

After breakfast they got ready to leave for the meeting point where they would meet Kurenai and the rest of Team 8. Five minutes later they arrived and greeted the rest of the team, together they left towards the Hokage tower to hopefully get a interesting C-rank mission. Entering the room Naruto greeted his Ji-chan and Iruka sensei with a smile and a good morning. Receiving a smile and a greeting back Naruto waited impatiently for the Hokage to assign them a mission. Sarutobi chuckled seeing Naruto's impatient face knowing that the young shinobi had waited a long time to start doing missions. D-rank missions didn't count as missions in Naruto's opinion. He took out a paper from the C-rank pile and smiled. He was sure Naruto was going to like this one, since it was a mission far outside the village and he knew Naruto had never left the village before.

"Ah yes, I have the perfect missions for you guys. It a escorting and protecting mission, you're to accompany someone back to the country of the Wave and protect him from bandits and thieves. Since there are four of you there should be no problem what so ever. Okay you can come in now Tazuna-san." Said explaining the mission and calling for a certain Tazuna guy.

The door opened and a slightly drunk old man entered the office. He wore glasses and had a goatee, he was carrying a backpack and a had a bottle of sake in his hand. He looked over at the kids and snorted.

"Are these the so called shinobi who are going save me from being mugged or killed?" Tazuna said while inspecting Naruto and the rest. "They look like they just left the diapers. Seriously, they're a bunch of midgets who couldn't defeat the weakest of enemies." He continued to insult them.

He was about to continue his insult when Anko appeared behind him holding a kunai to his throat.

"Please refrain from insulting our students old man. They may be young but each and every one of them could kick your sorry drunk ass any day of the week." Anko said defending her students in a menacing voice that caused Tazuna to almost soil his pants.

"I-I'm sorry. You all look very capable and strong. Please protect me from harm." Tazuna said quickly. He didn't want to get killed by this crazy woman.

Naruto smiled when Anko winked at him asking him if he liked the performance, slightly nodding he gave his okay. He knew that this was part of Anko's mask and he didn't mind that she used it when in public. He knew that when it was just the two of them she dropped her mask and he saw the real Anko.

Kurenai dismissed the students telling them to go pack for a long term mission and told them to meet at the front gate in thirty minutes. Kiba, Hinata and Shino disappeared in separate directions to go pack and prepare for the mission. Since Naruto had everything stored in his scrolls he was already packed so he accompanied Anko and Tazuna to the front gate. Half an hour later the group of four genin, one dog, two Jounin sensei's and one civilian stepped outside the gate starting their journey to the Wave. To say Naruto was excited was an understatement, he was looking left and right trying to see as many things as possible. This was the first time he travelled outside Konoha and he was very pumped up about it.

"What got you so excited and energetic Naruto? You look like a kid in a candy store." Kurenai said looking at Naruto.

"Well, sensei it's just that I have never been outside the village before now. So I'm kind of curious about the things we'll be seeing on this trip." Naruto said practically jumping up and down.

"Ah, I see. Well better get used to it Naruto because the most of the C-rank missions or higher are outside the village." Kurenai said smiling at Naruto's enthusiasm.

"Really? That's great, I can't wait to see all the different villages and stuff." Naruto said becoming more excited by the minute. He really hoped this would be a cool mission. But so far things were very calm.

During the first day of travel nothing really special happened, if Naruto had to be honest this was boring as hell they hadn't encountered any bandits or thieves so there was no fighting that day. He did learn a bit about the Wave country from Tazuna but for a reason the man was very reluctant to give out information out the country. Naruto said he would remember that small piece of thought and mention it later on. Kiba and Akamaru were running around playing and Shino was as quiet as always, Hinata was guarding the back with Kurenai sensei. When they made camp for the evening Naruto sat beside Hinata so he could talk to her a bit, he wanted to get to know his teammates better so they could become friends. Sure they had been in the academy together but this wasn't the same as being friends so wanted to make an effort.

"Hey Hinata, can I sit down?" Naruto asked the very shy girl.

Hinata stammered out a soft yes and turned bright red in the face. She couldn't believe that Naruto wanted to sit next to her and maybe even wanted to get to know her a little better. Naruto sat down and started on his diner.

"So Hinata, how have you been doing since graduation? You look a lot stronger than before. You use the Jyuken right? I've heard about it but I have never seen it." Naruto said showing interest in Hinata's fighting style.

Hinata was surprised Naruto was interested in her progress and that he knew about the Jyuken. Since it was a style only Hyuuga could master not many people wanted to know about it because even if they did, they wouldn't be able to use it.

"I-I-I'm doing fine N-Naruto-kun. T-Thank you for asking. I-I'd like to think that I got a l-little s-stronger but I'm still weak. Y-you know about the Jyuken?" Hinata managed to answer.

Naruto noticed her nervousness and tried to calm her down a little by telling her that he didn't believe her to be weak. He asked her some information about the Jyuken but when Hinata said that she wasn't very good at it he started to get irritated at her constantly putting herself down. When he asked why she thought she was weak she told him that she always lost in sparring matches with her little sister and her father also said she was weak. She didn't really like the Jyuken taijutsu style and she hated to hurt people even enemies. Hinata said that maybe she wasn't fit to be a shinobi and maybe it was best if she gave up on trying to be one. This angered Naruto greatly and he wasn't about to let his teammate continue with this kind of thinking.

"Hinata, stop being a coward! You're trying to make excuses for yourself." Naruto yelled out.

Kurenai who had been listening to the conversation was about to interfere and tell Naruto to apologize when Anko grabbed her arm and shook her head. Anko knew Hinata had hit a very sore point for Naruto. He hated people who gave up because something didn't go the way they liked or because something was hard to achieve. She also knew that Hinata needed to hear this, maybe she would stop this self degrading of her. Some people needed to be told thing the hard way instead of sugarcoating it.

"You say you're weak, well I say train harder. You say you're not good at Jyuken, I say practice more. People don't get strong by sitting on their ass crying about how weak they are. You get strong by training and practicing day after day, year in year out. If you start by believing that you're not going to make it then you have already lost Hinata. You need to have confidence in yourself and in your abilities. If you believe you can do it, then no matter what you will succeed. If you don't succeed the first time then you try again and again until you do succeed and when you do you'll know that you got stronger." Naruto practically yelled at Hinata who was staring at him with her eyes wide open from shock.

"Giving up is the easy way out, it's a cowards way out. And I know that the Hinata who is my friend isn't a coward." Naruto said after taking a few breaths so he would calm down a little.

"So what if you lose to your little sister, you probably were to afraid to hurt her. I know I would be to afraid to hurt my sister if a had one. So what if your dad says you're weak, show him that he's wrong. If you're not comfortable using the Jyuken then all you have to do is make your own style. I hated the academy taijutsu style because it felt unnatural to me, so I went and created my own style. A style that is perfect for me. If I can do such a thing then there's no way in the world you can't do it too. If you don't like hurting people that's fine leave that part of the missions to the rest of the team, there're lot of different things you can do. You told me that you like making medicine from herbs, so maybe you could be our medical support. Stand up and be a proud member of Team 8, stand up and show everyone who ever called you weak how wrong they are. There's always another way Hinata. I hope that you aren't mad at me for yelling at you but you needed to hear this." Naruto finished hoping he would get through to Hinata.

There was absolute silence in the camp, nobody said a word shocked that Naruto would be able to say such convincing words. Hinata stood there going over Naruto's words in her mind, every time she heard those words she got more and more disgusted with herself. Naruto was right, she was taking the easy way out and she was being a coward. She decided right there and then that she would change. Never again would she give up, never again would she say or think those words. She would become strong and she would prove to her father that he was wrong all along.

Kurenai looked at Hinata to see what her reaction would be to such harsh but truthful words, she hoped Hinata would realize that Naruto was right. When she looked at Hinata she could see her eyes change from a depressing look into a look of pure determination and willpower. It seemed Hinata had taken Naruto's words very seriously and that she had made her decision. Hinata's next words told her that she wouldn't have to worry about her anymore.

"Naruto-kun, thank you. You're right, its time I stop being afraid and start being strong. Never again will I give up, I promise. From now on I will be a proud and strong member of Team 8. Please help me become stronger Naruto-kun. I want to get stronger and show my father and the rest of the clan a new Hinata." She said with a firm voice.

"You're very welcome Hinata and I'll help you every step of the way." Naruto smiled happy that she wasn't mad at him for yelling. He would do everything in his power to help her become strong. He told her that he wouldn't take it easy on her and that she had better be prepared. Hinata nodded saying she would take on everything he would throw at her. Kurenai, Anko and the two other members or Team 8 said that they too would help and Hinata thanked them with teary eyes. She was very fortunate to have such good friends and teachers. For the first time in years she went to bed feeling very good about herself.

"That was a very nice speech you give Naruto. You really opened her eyes back there. Well done, I'm very proud of you for being able to help you teammate like that." Anko said very impressed.

"Thanks, Anko I didn't want to yell at her but it seems it worked out for the best." Naruto admitted a bit shocked about his actions as well.

"I'm sure she got the message. Good night Naruto-kun." Anko said smiling and went over to her tent that she shared with Hinata and Kurenai.

"Good night Anko-chan and sweet dreams." Naruto looking at her with loving eyes before he too went to bed.

They had been travelling for 2 days now and still had seen no sign of bandits or thieves. Naruto was getting frustrated, there was nothing to do and he was losing time that he could have used for training. This missions was classified in the 'boring as hell' shelf in his mind. Though there was some good news as well. Hinata had made a 180° change in her behavior, she almost got rid of her stutter and she would walk with her shoulders straight and her head up. No longer did she move as a shy little girl that looked like she had been punished for something. She still had lots of work to do on her confidence but it was a start.

Bored Naruto looked at the road in front of him and his eyes caught something that wasn't supposed to be there. A small puddle. Since it was very warm and it hadn't rained for days this was next to impossible. He glanced at Anko and Kurenai and realized that they saw it too. They didn't show any concern or motion to interfere, they would let the kids handle it but they would interfere if they saw that the kids couldn't handle the situation. When they passed the puddle none of them made any sign of recognition and just kept on walking.

All of the sudden two shinobi rose from the puddle ready to attack. The shinobi wore black clothing and masks, they also wore gloves with claws attached to it and somehow the two men were connected to each other by a long, sharp looking chain. The two shinobi passed Anko and Kurenai and went straight for Tazuna. Seeing that the enemy was coming their way Kiba, Hinata and Shino immediately took a guarding formation around Tazuna so that they could protect him. The shinobi tried to wrap the chain around them but Naruto was ready for them. He appeared in front of his team and quickly unsheathed his sword, channeling some chakra into the seal which allowed Naruto to cut up the chain like a hot knife through butter. Seeing that their initial attack was defeated the two men each took a target and went for the kill.

One of the two went for Naruto and tried to slash him with his claws, Naruto kept evading for a while but he didn't want to take any risk so decided to quickly end this fight. He pushed forward and he attacked with a overhead slash from his sword. His enemy not knowing that Naruto's sword was enhanced with chakra simply tried to block it with the piece of metal that was strapped around his forearm. He should have remembered that this sword had cut through their chain but underestimating Naruto he simply tried to block it. His eyes went wide when the sword cut through his metal armguard into his flesh cutting his forearm clean off the rest of his arm. Distracted by the loss of his forearm and the resulting pain he didn't see Naruto's next attack coming which separated his head from his body. Naruto was a little shocked that he had killed the man but Anko had told him several times that killing an enemy is a part of being a shinobi. He regretted killing the man but wouldn't feel guilty about it, it was either kill or be killed.

The other shinobi had heated for the other three members of Team 8. Kiba and Shino went forward to try and stop him while Hinata stayed with Tazuna in case the enemy would get past her teammates. Kiba threw a punch but the enemy just ducked under it and continued his advancing, Shino didn't fare any better and his attack was blocked as well. But before he could make it to Hinata and Tazuna a nice looking throwing knife planted itself in the back of his head causing instant death. Anko had decided that he had made it far enough and didn't want to take the risk that he got past Hinata as well.

"Good job everyone. Very nice teamwork. I'm very proud of each one of you. You worked together and you protected Tazuna very efficiently. Well done." Kurenai said.

Anko however went over to a still slightly shocked Naruto knowing that this was the first time he actually killed someone. He heard someone asking if he was okay, when he looked up he saw Anko looking at him with a hint of concern.

"I'm okay. I guess I'm just a little shocked that I killed the man." Naruto said softly. He felt somewhat bad for taking the life of another human being even if he was a enemy.

"I know Naruto. This was your first kill but don't feel bad about it okay? You had no choice, it was kill or be killed. This is a part of being a shinobi Naruto you know this." Anko said trying to help her student.

"Yeah, but still I don't feel very proud of myself right now." Naruto said.

"Look, I saw the fight and if he hadn't underestimated you by trying to block your attack he wouldn't have been hurt and distracted. That cost him his life and he's the one to blame for it not you." Anko said.

"Does it ever get easier?" Naruto said actually slightly afraid of the answer.

"It actually does get easier Naruto-kun. You'll learn how to deal with killing but as long as you feel uncomfortable with it you should be fine. When you start liking to kill it means that you have stopped being human." Anko said softly.

"Even now I'm still not used to killing even after all my time in the assassination squad. I like the rush and the adrenaline that comes with those missions but the killing part is something I will never enjoy. I do it because it is my job as a shinobi and my duty to the village." She continued and placed her hand on his right shoulder showing her support.

"Thanks Anko-chan. I needed to talk about this." Naruto said.

"You're welcome Naruto-kun. Now let's see what Kurenai got out of the old man." Anko said.

While Anko was talking to Naruto, Kurenai had forced Tazuna into telling the truth about the mission. Tazuna seeing that he had no choice quickly told them that he was being targeted by shinobi who worked for a man named Gato who didn't want him to complete the bridge he was building. The bridge would help the country recover from poverty caused by Gato and his thugs. He also said that he didn't want to lie about being targeted by shinobi but he knew that he couldn't afford a more expensive B-rank of higher.

Kurenai and Anko were in a difficult situation because this could very well become a very dangerous situation. Men as rich and powerful as Gato could afford lot of manpower to protect themselves and they also hired high level missing nin to do their dirty work. This should have been an B or even A-rank mission instead of a C-rank. The smart thing to do was abandoning the mission but both of them knew that now of the kids would accept that answer. So they decided to continue the mission but told the kids that if they were to encounter shinobi there job was to protect Tazuna while Anko and Kurenai would fight the enemy. Seeing that their teacher were serious Naruto and the rest quickly agreed to those terms.

Now that they knew that there could be shinobi attacking, the group was on high alert. Naruto had taken several useful items from the two missing nin like explosive tags and some poison. Since that kind of stuff was relatively expensive he might as well take it with him. It could prove useful and it would save him some money which was always good in Naruto's opinion. Hinata used her 'Byakugan' every 10 minutes to try to find a trace of a enemy, so far she had found nothing which secretly she was very glad for. Kiba and Akamaru took the lead so if there were any enemies coming from the front he could smell them, Shino used his bugs to try and find any enemy. Naruto had made a few Kage Bunshins who followed them at a distance, they could provide backup or a distraction in case of an attack. When he suggested his idea both Anko and Kurenai congratulated him for thinking of such a use of the Kage Bunshin No Jutsu.

Two days after the first attack they had reached the border of the Fire Country and were waiting for a contact person that Tazuna knew who would get them across the small sea to the Wave. Naruto was excited because he had never seen the sea before so this was something he wanted to see for years. When Tazuna's contact arrived they quickly boarded the little boat that would bring them to Wave. About one fourth of the trip a giant stone obstacle came into view.

"This is the bridge that we're building right now. It will connect the island with the mainland and provide us with other means of doing trade then by sea. Right now Gato owns almost every ship in Wave making it impossible for us to break from under his thumb." Tazuna said sadly.

"So that's why he wants to kill you. If you get killed then there will be no one to finish building the bridge." Shino said.

"Yes, that's why I need protection. I'm sorry for lying but I had no other choice." Tazuna apologized once again.

A short moment later they reached land again and said goodbye to the man. Tazuna told the group that his home was just one hour from where they were now, so they decided to hurry. Naruto once again made a few Kage Bunshins to guard their back in case of an attack.

They had been walking for about 20 minutes when Hinata spotted movement high in the surrounding trees. Alerting everybody they quickly got in a formation around Tazuna so that they could protect him. A few seconds later a figure dropped out of the trees in front of them. Standing up Team 8 could see that he carried a very big sword on his shoulder and he carried a headband that indicated that he was a shinobi of the Mist.

"Damn, I hadn't counted on one of you brats to have the 'Byakugan', that spoiled my little surprise for you guys. Ah well, no matter. I see, Yuuhi Kurenai, Genjutsu Mistress of the Leaf and Mitarashi Anko, Snake Mistress of the Leaf , no wonder the demon brothers didn't have a chance against the two of you." The shinobi said.

Naruto bristled at the way he addressed Anko knowing that she despised that name. She hated being associated with Orochimaru, the legendary snake Sannin. It reminded her of his betrayal and the hurt and loneliness that came with it.

"Momochi Zabuza, demon of the Mist and one of the legendary seven swordsmen of the Mist. Wanted for attempting to assassinate the Mizukage several years ago." Kurenai said. Inwardly however she was very worried, this was a very dangerous opponent. The situation had taken a turn for the worse, she hoped that she and Anko would be able to defeat him but she knew that it would be a tough nut to crack. She glanced at Anko and saw that she was thinking the same thing. Kurenai wasn't a attack type rather she preferred to stay in the background trying to capture her targets in a Genjutsu and then finishing them off. Since that wasn't possible in this case she would have to fight directly which wasn't her strong point.

Anko was worried about this opponent, if it was just she and Kurenai she might be able to defeat him albeit with some trouble but now she would have to worry about protecting her students and Tazuna. She had no doubt that Zabuza would use that in his advantage if they had a lapse in concentration. This man was a specialist in silent killing, something that was very hard to beat without being able to do it yourself. This was troublesome to say the least.

Zabuza didn't waste any time and started his attack by creating a very thick mist that surrounded everyone. Anko cursed. This was what she was afraid of happening, with zero visibility they were at a disadvantage. Naruto and the rest took their positions trying to protect Tazuna but without seeing their attacker this would prove to be difficult. Suddenly a huge amount of killing intent hit all of them, Kiba, Shino and Hinata who had never experienced something like this before gasped and almost fell to their knees. Hinata started shaking and Akamaru was whimpering on Kiba's head. Naruto who was used to feeling killer intent from sparring matches with Anko was holding on even if this was the first time he felt such bloodlust.

When the mist cleared Naruto saw Kurenai approaching Zabuza trying to stab him in the back. She had him trapped in a Genjutsu and was about to make her move. Since he had his back turned to her she couldn't see the small smile that crept into Zabuza's face. When she stabbed him she thought that is was over but then she heard water dripping on the ground.

"Kurenai sensei watch out behind you!" Naruto yelled starting to run towards her.

When she heard Naruto's call she saw that the Zabuza she had stabbed disappeared in a blob of water. She had been tricked. This Zabuza was a Mizu Bunshin, she had fallen for his trap. Turning around she saw another Zabuza swing his sword at her midsection, knowing she couldn't dodge in time she braced herself waiting for the pain. Naruto who had seen that Kurenai sensei had fallen in a trap hurried his way over hoping that he would make it in time.

Kurenai who expected a lot of pain by being cut down by Zabuza heard a loud clang. A clang she associated with weapons colliding, opening her eyes she saw Naruto who had stopped Zabuza's sword with his own. Naruto relax a little knowing that he had made it in time to block Zabuza's sword but now he had to fight himself. He knew this man was strong, stronger than him because it had taken a lot of his strength to block that huge sword. Naruto knew that he was in a bad situation and that this could end with him losing his life. But if he was to die, he wouldn't go alone he would at least take Zabuza with him he promised. With all his strength he pushed Zabuza away so that he could relax his muscles for a few seconds and try to think of a plan.

Zabuza was surprised. Not only had the blonde realized that his sensei had stabbed a Bunshin but he had also reached his sensei in time to save her. And on top of that the blonde had stopped his attack with a sword of his own. He wondered where the kid had hidden the sword since he didn't noticed it before. He felt the kid push him back and he jumped to take some distance. This kid was interesting he thought.

Kurenai and Anko were amazed at Naruto. He had stopped one of Zabuza's attacks, an attack that would have ended Kurenai's life if it had succeeded. Kurenai was going to thank Naruto profusely for saving her life if they managed to win or escape this fight. Anko was glad that Kurenai was okay but she was now very worried about Naruto. Zabuza surely would be interested in him now and focus his attacks on him. She had to find a way to divert Zabuza's attention to her and Kurenai, she was afraid for Naruto's life if this continued. She was about to make her move when Zabuza turned to her and pointed behind her. She turned and saw that a Mizu Bunshin had his sword aimed at Kiba and the rest of the team.

"If you don't want a dead team I suggest you don't make a move. That counts for you as well Kurenai-san." Zabuza said grinning at the anticipation of having to fight a brat that showed some talent.

Kurenai and Anko were trapped, he had played this well. By taking hostage's he was sure that they wouldn't attack. That's what happens when you get distracted and you care to much about human lives he thought.

"Sensei, don't move. I'll be fine don't worry." Naruto tried to reassure them. But inside he was close to panicking himself. Zabuza had played a dirty trick by taking his team hostage just so that he could play around with him. Naruto needed a plan and he needed it yesterday. He tried to calm himself down and started to think of a plan that would allow them to escape or drive Zabuza away.

Zabuza who had given the blonde enough time to recuperate from stopping his attack started to get impatient. He wanted to enjoy a fight and hopefully a good kill, he was going to take his time with the brat in front of him. He grabbed his sword and started advancing toward Naruto who saw Zabuza getting ready to attack again. Naruto gripped his sword tightly and prepared for the fight. Zabuza reached him raising his sword above his head and then trusting it down to Naruto. Seeing the sword coming down Naruto channeled an amount of chakra into his sword and parried the blow. Zabuza smiled, this kid had guts taking on his attack, that or he was stupid to try such a thing. Blow after blow, attack after attack Naruto blocked or evade Zabuza's sword. His own sword was put to the ultimate test, if his sword survived this fight intact then nothing would be able to destroy it Naruto thought.

'He's playing with me, he wants to take his time and test me. Blocking these attacks take too much chakra, I need a plan I need to do something.' Naruto realized. Up till now Zabuza had been holding back and Naruto knew it. If Zabuza got serious there would be no way for Naruto to parry of block the attacks.

'He's underestimating me like the other guy. Think damn it, think of something.' Naruto thoughts raced through his head.

"You got talent brat I'll give you that but you're way to young and inexperienced to defeat me. I will take my time finishing you off and then I'm going to amuse myself with your sensei's for a while. Maybe I should sell them to one of the slave rings what do you think? They should be worth quite a lot." Zabuza said laughing like crazy.

This angered Naruto greatly since he knew what happened to girls who got sold to those slave rings. Most of the time girls would be used as sex toys for the rich and powerful. Once caught in such a environment there was only one escape and that was death. The thought of Anko suffering a fate like that made Naruto mad beyond belief. There was no way he would allow such a thing to happen. He blocked another blow from above and jumped backwards while doing some handseals.

"Kage Bunshin No Jutsu" Naruto yelled out. In a instant 5 Bunshins appeared.

"Oh, that's a very useful jutsu you know there but that's not going to work brat. Five Bunshins are nothing to me." Zabuza sneered at Naruto.

"Then how about fifty?" Naruto said before repeating the jutsu. With that a small army of clones attacked Zabuza who stopped sneering and started to cut down some clones. After a few moments all the clones were destroyed and Zabuza appeared before Naruto going for the kill. Naruto who had a look of surprise on his face made no move to dodge or block the strike. When he was about to be hit a small smile appeared on his face. Striking down Naruto trough the shoulder Zabuza started to laugh until he heard a soft voice.

"Boom" said Naruto smiling and with that he exploded. Zabuza who didn't have time to move away got hit with the full blast of the explosion. When the dust and smoke cleared Anko and Kurenai saw a wounded Zabuza standing there halfway hiding behind his sword. He had managed to protect his face and torso with his sword but his right arm and leg were heavily burned from the explosion. Zabuza, wounded and hurting tried to find Naruto but before he could make a move he heard a sound behind him. Turning around he saw Naruto preparing to stab him in what would be a lethal place. He quickly moved and managed to avoid being stabbed in the kidney. Though he had avoided a certain death he still got stabbed just above his right kidney, it was a serious wound that would need healing but it wouldn't kill him right away. With his remaining strength he punched Naruto in the face who disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Surprised he turned around and saw that the Mizu Bunshin that held those other brats hostage had been destroyed by the original Naruto.

Zabuza was pissed beyond words, he had gotten careless and now he paid the prize for it. He was bleeding badly and his arm was useless, there was no way he could defeat two Jounin in this condition. He would have to escape. He saw Anko and Kurenai getting ready to finish him off, this had been one mistake after the other he thought.

Anko and Kurenai quickly took control of the situation, seeing Zabuza wounded and unable to continue the fight, they wanted to make sure he wouldn't bother them again. Running towards him for the final blow they stopped when they saw 2 senbon needles pierce through Zabuza's neck and saw him fall down like a ton of bricks. They looked around and saw a hunternin sitting on branch in a tree on the left of them. Anko quickly went to check if Zabuza truly was dead but finding no pulse she had to conclude that he died. The hunternin appeared next to Zabuza and grabbed his body.

"Thank you for weakening him enough so I could finish him off. I've been hunting him for a long time, thanks to you my mission is a success." The mysterious shinobi said before he disappeared.

Seeing the danger was over for now Anko rushed over to Naruto and hugged him like crazy. Naruto gladly returned the hug until Anko pulled away and bonked him on his head. Really hard.

"You little jerk. Do you have any idea what I went through when I saw that clone getting hit. My heart practically stopped beating from the shock. If you ever pull such a stunt again I swear to god that you'll regret it." Anko yelled before grabbing him into a hug again.

"I thought I lost you, Naruto-kun. Please don't ever scare me like that again." She said softly.

"I'm very sorry Anko-chan. I promise I'll try not to scare you like that ever again." Naruto answered softly and returned the hug.

The rest of the team was watching very closely at the way Anko and Naruto were acting. They couldn't help but smile at the scene. Kurenai had never seen Anko react in such a way before, never had she shown such a display a emotions. She would definitely ask Anko how she truly felt about the young blond shinobi. And she wouldn't forget to tease Anko about it as a payback for all the teasing she received about her and Asuma. Oh yes payback would be sweet.

Anko separated herself from Naruto quickly wiping a tear from eye before anyone could see. She knew that Kurenai would already tease her as it is so there was no need to give her more material. Letting go of Naruto resulted in said shinobi falling flat on his back exhausted from the fight with a much stronger opponent. He needed to sleep and fast, he hoped he would be able to hold on until they reached Tazuna's house. When Naruto fell down everyone become worried that he was wounded but as he sat back up he told them that all he needed was some sleep. Tazuna told him that they were very close to his home and that they would be there in about half an hour if they start walking.

Naruto stood up with help from Kiba who supported him by throwing Naruto's arm over his shoulder. Naruto thanked him and they started walking towards Tazuna's house. Kiba's opinion of Naruto had changed completely, never would he have been able to do what Naruto just did. While he would never admit it out loud Naruto had gotten his respect and he kind of looked up to him now. Naruto had literally saved all of them from an opponent who was many times stronger. He would have to train harder if he wanted to keep up with Naruto. He vowed that he would become stronger and defeat Naruto one day in a fair fight.

Shino too started respecting Naruto for his strength in battle and because of what he did for Hinata. He liked his team and would make sure that he protected them at all time but when he was faced with Hinata's problem he couldn't think of anything to help her. He had never been in such a situation before so he couldn't find the right words to say. He tried to support her the best he could but it wasn't enough. Now that Naruto had spoken to her, he truly believed that she would become motivated to train and she would become strong. He had no doubt about it.

Hinata was amazed at Naruto's strength and abilities. She truly admired him for never giving up and always moving forward. While Naruto had to fight to save them all she had collapsed because of the huge amount of killer intent that Zabuza had sent their way. While it was the first she ever felt something like that, it was no excuse to break down like that. She had promised herself and her team that she would get stronger and the first fight they had she collapsed. She would make it up to them she promised herself. She also saw how Naruto and Anko interacted and realized that there were feelings beyond friendship between them. She sighed knowing that Naruto would never be more that a close friend to her. But when she thought about it she realized it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. Perhaps it was time to let go of her crush on Naruto and to try standing on her own two feet.

When they arrived at Tazuna's house Naruto had to do his best to keep his eyes open, the fight had really exhausted him more than he thought. Seeing this Anko ordered Naruto to go straight to bed and rest up. Naruto didn't have to be told twice and he bid everyone a goodnight and crept into a futon. He was asleep minutes after his head touched the pillow. Anko and the rest stayed up and met Tsunami and her son Inari who were very happy that Tazuna made it back safely. Tsunami thanked them all for keeping her father save from harm. Inari however just looked at them and went up to his room. After a very delicious meal the three kids went up to get some sleep as well. The past few days had been stressful and tiring for them.

"So Anko, still saying that you and Naruto are just friends? From what I saw I would start to believe otherwise." Kurenai said with a sly smile. She had seen how Anko reacted and she was sure that both of them had feelings for each other.

"I don't know what you're talking about Kurenai but since I'm tired I'm going to bed. Good night." Anko said trying to evade her friends question.

"Sure Anko, good night and sweet dreams." Kurenai said laughing at her friends expense. She had her answer thanks to the way her friend reacted anyway.

* * *

This concludes Chapter 8 of 'The Story of Uzumaki Naruto'. I hope you enjoyed it.

Did Naruto's words to Hinata make sense? I tried to make it believable and yet inspiring so that Hinata would start changing her way of thinking. Don't worry that she will change into a confident and strong kunoichi right away, I will try to make her evolution realistic.

How did you guys like the fight between Naruto and Zabuza? Like I said in the disclaimer a few chapters back Naruto doesn't always win his fights because he's stronger. It depends also on luck, planning and strategic thinking as well. I tried to make the fight with Zabuza like this. No doubt Zabuza was stronger than Naruto but like so many he underestimated him and paid for it. Naruto has a knack of coming up with a way to win during the fight, that's one of his major talents. It's something that we have seen in the manga and anime as well.

Next chapter 9: Training for the battle will be released on Sunday the 23th of March.

Naruto and Team 8 start their training for the coming battle with Zabuza and his accomplice. While training Naruto starts developing his own Kenjutsu techniques while the rest of Team 8 learn some new things from Anko and Kurenai.


	9. Chapter 9: Training for the battle

I don't own Naruto. It all belongs to Kishimoto and he's making a mess of it lately.

Once again I had a very busy week which meant that I had little time to continue writing but no fear I'm ahead of schedule at the moment. So expect the next chapter on time like always.

Thanks again to all the people who reviewed. It's really nice to see how many people read my story.

A few people asked me if this will be a harem story but I will have to disappoint the people who wanted that. This will be Naruto/Anko only, I like harem story just fine but I won't be writing one. Maybe my next story will be a harem story but I would like to finish this story first (or at least progress much further) before I start writing the next Naruto story.

Anyway, let's move on with the story shall we? I give you Chapter 9 in 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'

* * *

Chapter 9: Training for the battle

Waking up the next morning Naruto felt great. He had recovered from his exhaustion and was ready to train. Seeing it was still very early and that everyone was still asleep he quietly left the room trying not to wake Kiba and Shino. Once downstairs he went to the front door and went outside. After some stretching and some warming up exercises Naruto decided that it was time to start the heavy works. Making several clones he told them to practice chakra control and the several taijutsu kata's he had created. While his clone got to work Naruto took out his sword to give it an inspection. It had been dealt some very heavy blows and he was worried that it was damaged in some way. Carefully going over the blade he saw no imperfections, the blade had passed its test flawlessly. Thanks to the special seal on it the blade was reinforced with chakra so it was much stronger than a normal sword. Now that he thought about Zabuza's sword probably had something similar since his own blade couldn't damage it. That complicated matters, he had hoped that he would be the only one with a sword that had such an ability. Maybe that was a bit naïve but hey there's hoping right? Seeing his sword was fine he started done some Kenjutsu exercises, he had made a lot of progress with Kenjutsu but like his taijutsu he wanted to make his own style. But since he hadn't any examples to base his style on it was a lot harder than he would like.

Inside the house people were getting up as well and when Kiba saw that Naruto was missing he panicked for a second before Shino told him that he was outside practicing Kenjutsu. Kiba not wanting to be left behind got dressed and went outside to start training as well. He needed to become stronger if he wanted to beat Naruto. Passing Hinata and Anko he yelled that he was joining Naruto in morning practice. Hearing that the two girls followed as well. Tazuna was annoyed, it was 6h30 am and several people were running inside the house making lots of noise. Since he was awake anyway he got dressed to see what the commotion was about. Tsunami got up as well and started making breakfast for everyone.

Naruto had just finished his Kenjutsu training when he heard Kiba calling his name. He looked in the direction of where the sound came from and saw Kiba, Hinata and Anko running towards him. Smiling he wished them a good morning and asked how they were doing. Getting three positive responses he nodded and smiled. When they asked if he had sufficiently recovered he told them he was feeling stronger than ever. Just then Tsunami came outside telling that breakfast was ready. The four of them went inside to have breakfast. Naruto not yet having met Tsunami introduced himself and received a hug from her thanking him for saving her dad's life the day before. Blushing he told her that it was nothing and that it was his job to keep him save. Anko scowled seeing him blush from Tsunami's hug, making Naruto blush was her job and hers alone!

"Now Anko this is nothing to get jealous over. She's just thanking him for saving her dad's life. No need for jealousy." Kurenai whispered in her ear.

"Jealous? I'm not jealous." Anko tried to deny Kurenai's words. 'Damn it she had to see that, didn't she. Stupid Kurenai always annoying me.' Anko thought.

"Yeah sure, so that's why you looked like if you wanted to claw Tsunami-san's eyes out." Kurenai whispered smiling.

"I'm not jealous okay!" Anko said glaring at her best friend.

"Whatever you say Anko. You can deny it all you want but I'm just telling it as I see it." Kurenai said in a 'I know it all' kind of voice.

"Don't concern yourself about my love live Kurenai-chan. You have enough to worry about with Asuma, have you made your move yet? You should hurry before another steals him away from you." Anko said trying to give Kurenai some of her own medicine.

"Asuma and I are just good friends and nothing more. We don't feel about each other that way." Kurenai said seriously.

"Now who's denying things?" Anko said satisfied she had gotten a bit of revenge on her friend.

When they were done eating breakfast Hinata asked how Naruto had managed to make a clone that explodes and how he had trapped Zabuza. Naruto told her that when he heard Zabuza tell that he would sell Anko and Kurenai to slavers he got really mad. While he was thinking that he would never allow that, he remembered the Kage Bunshins that were following them as protection or backup. He told them that one of those clones was an exploding type of Kage Bunshin, so he made a small army of clone to distract Zabuza. Next he told them how he had used 'Kawarimi no Jutsu' to change place with that Bunshin. When Zabuza had hit him the clone exploded. After that the last clone jumped out of his hiding place and attempted to stab Zabuza in the back but got noticed and stabbed him just above the kidney.

"Wow, Naruto that was some amazing thinking you did back there. To be able to defeat a guy like that is unbelievable." Kiba said.

"No, you're wrong Kiba. If Zabuza had gotten serious from the beginning I would have lost within minutes. He played around and toyed with me trying to enjoy killing me which made him underestimate me. That gave me a chance to form some kind of plan which fortunately worked out okay. I managed to surprise him with the exploding clone and that worked in my advantage. He didn't expect a mere genin to know such a jutsu and it took him by surprise." Naruto explained to his teammate and friend.

"Naruto is right Kiba. If Zabuza had fought Naruto without holding back he would have defeated Naruto with ease. Zabuza is easily of high Jounin level so at his full power even we would have a hard time defeating him." Kurenai said.

"That's an important lesson people. A shinobi fight isn't about who has the most jutsu or the most fancy techniques. It's about knowing your own limit's and knowing when to fight and when to back down. Also underestimating your enemy because of his or her appearance will get yourself killed. It doesn't matter if you're a genin or a Jounin, if you lose focus or get caught off guard even the most simple attack can kill you." Anko continued.

Hearing Naruto talk Kurenai remembered that Naruto saved her life yesterday and that she had yet to thank him for it. She got up and went over to Naruto. After telling him to stand up she gave him a hug and a kiss on his cheek thanking him for saving her life. Kurenai looked at Anko and put out her tongue to her while Anko was glaring daggers at Kurenai. Oh this meant war. If that was the way Kurenai wanted to play she was all game. Realizing that maybe she had pushed a little too far in teasing of her friend, Kurenai went over to Anko and whispered an apology. Although she was still a little mad Anko told her friend not to worry about it. Kurenai nodded and suddenly told everyone to pay attention, she then proceeded that both she and Anko thought that Zabuza was still alive. She explained that hunternin were supposed to dispose of the corpse on the scene without moving it. Since that nin took the body away there was a chance that Zabuza was still alive. When Hinata asked about the senbon that struck him in the neck, Anko told her that it was possible to injure someone and make it look like he was dead for a short period of time. But since he was heavily injured it would take him at least a week or two to recover and they would use that time to train and prepare.

"He would also have to recover from the poison that I put on the dagger before I stabbed him." Naruto said. Noticing that everyone was staring at him he told them that he had put the poison that he stole from the other shinobi's on the knife. Anko told him that even if they had the antidote the poison would slow down his recovery and that he would have to flush out the poison from his body before he would be completely healed. This would buy them some extra time.

Seeing that they would have about two weeks before the next attack came they started discussing who should get what kind of training. Since they all had different fighting styles this proved to be difficult. It was Anko who put an end to the madness by asking Kurenai if she had already taught her student tree and water walking. Kiba and Shino replied that they didn't know how to do that but Hinata said that she had been taught those when she was younger. Kiba and Shino told Hinata that she had taken a head start in getting stronger and that they will catch up to her. Hinata smiled secretly very proud that she knew something her teammates didn't. It raised her self confidence a little but she quickly told herself that they would catch up quickly and thus she would have to train hard herself. Kurenai said that she would teach tree and water walking to Kiba and Shino while Anko said that she would start teaching the kunai spinning exercise to Hinata. Anko suspected that Hinata would be able to learn that exercise since as a Hyuuga she had excellent chakra control. Every morning they would practice chakra control and in the afternoon there would be sparring and some ninjutsu training. When Kiba asked why they should learn other jutsu since they had their family jutsu to begin with. Anko let Naruto answer that question since he once asked her the same question.

"Kiba, the problem with a lot of people that belong to a clan is that they only focus on clan jutsu's. While it's important to know those jutsu's it's really not a good idea not to learn other jutsu's as well. The same thing happens with people who have a bloodline limit. Take away their bloodline and they lose more than half of their strength. Let me give you an example. Hinata is part of the Hyuuga clan and like all members she's able to use the Byakugan. They are without a doubt a very strong clan with a very strong Taijutsu style which needs the Byakugan to be a hundred percent effective. Hinata, what would happen if you were unable to use your Byakugan?" Naruto started to explain.

"Well, while the Jyuken would still be effective on his own, it would have lost a lot of power. For example I wouldn't be able to see your tenketsu thus I would be unable to close them. The Jyuken targets the inner organs but without closing your tenketsu you would be able to move and do jutsu. And a lot of our finishing moves our based on closing those tenketsu so yes we would lose more than half of our strength." Hinata said starting to understand what Naruto was trying to say.

"That's why people like me that don't have a bloodline or family jutsu's are dangerous because we don't have a fixed style. When people see Hinata, they know what kind of style they use and they can act accordingly to fight her. But if see would attack with other jutsu she would be able to take the element of surprise and her enemy could be taking by surprise. Don't underestimate the element of surprise, it a powerful ally in battle." Naruto finished his explanation.

The three members of Team 8 thought about it and come to the conclusion that knowing other jutsu's might indeed be a very good tactical advantage and decided to learn a least a couple of them. Anko told them to get moving and they went off starting their training for the next two weeks. Since she knew that Naruto had been working on his Kenjutsu she told him that he could work on that. Naruto happily agreed and went in another direction into the surrounding forest.

Naruto had been working on his Kenjutsu for a few months know and he was getting quite good at it but he lacked techniques to use next to the normal moves. Just hitting and cutting his opponent wouldn't be enough, he needed an edge if he wanted to beat Zabuza since he also lacked the necessary experience of actual swordfights. He took out his sword and looked at it, channeling some chakra into the seal the soft blue casing appeared giving the blade a magnificent look. He was truly proud of himself for making such a excellent weapon. He started to swing it around a bit to help him get some idea's, when he brought down his sword a small gust of wind come forth from the blade. He realized that this was the air that was being pushed away when his sword came down. Then it hit him, what if he could somehow create enough force so that the air that was being pushed away actually would be able to hurt. Since it would create a cutting wind that would be an excellent technique to have. He remembered that he and Anko had discovered that his chakra element was wind so in theory this would be easier to accomplish for him.

_Flashback _

"_Alright Naruto, like you asked I got you that special chakra paper that would allow us to know your chakra element. As you know the different chakra element are wind, fire, water, lightning and earth. Each has his strong and weak points so keep that in mind. A lot of people in Konoha have the fire element since we live in the Fire Country but the other 4 element have been known to appear as well. For example I have water affinity, this mean that for me Suiton Jutsu's are easier to learn but Raiton Jutsu's are very difficult since that's the opposite element for me. Okay, all you have to do is channel some chakra into the paper. Go ahead" Anko said._

_Naruto wasted no time and channeled some chakra into the small piece of paper and to his surprise it neatly cut in half. Anko explained him that this meant that his chakra element was wind. This made Naruto jump up and down smiling very brightly. When Anko asked why he was so happy, he told her that his dad was a wind user as well. The fact that he had the same element made Naruto very happy since for him it meant that he truly was his father's son._

_Anko told him that people with wind as their element were very rare in Konoha, and that she didn't really know any Futon Jutsu to teach him. That didn't faze Naruto, he just told her he would create his own._

_End Flashback_

Now that he had an idea to try out, he thought about it and wondered how he would make the wind into a cutting wind. He quickly came to the conclusion that the only thing he had to do was to expel chakra from his blade when he moved it through the air. And since his seal allowed him to create a chakra casing around his sword he would have no problem on that department. He once again thanked his dad for writing that book on seals. He got up and make several dozen clones telling them to start practicing on his new found technique. He went over to a large mountain made of stone and started practicing as well.

Anko and the rest had finished their morning training and were waiting for Naruto to come back so they could have lunch. After waiting for 20 minutes Anko told them she would go and look for him. She went in the direction that she saw Naruto leave that morning and started her search. After about 10 minute she could hear voices coming from her right. Curious she went over to take a look and saw Naruto talking to a clone. She come into a small clearing and made herself known to Naruto. When he saw her he quickly took her hand and dragged her all the way to the large mountain saying something about a new technique.

"I found it. I made two techniques for my Kenjutsu and they're awesome." Naruto boasted to Anko. He then told her to stand to his right and watch him perform his technique. He told her to pay attention to the rock. He got into his stance and grabbed his sword, raised it above his head. He then brought it down in an diagonal motion starting from upper right down to his left. Anko who had kept her eyes on the rock like she was told to saw how a deep slash appeared into the surface. The slash went down from right to left in a diagonal way.

"I call it 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' (1) and it's a long range attack." Naruto proudly said.

Anko had to agree, 'wind that cuts the Heaven' seemed like an appropriate name for such a devastating technique. Then she remembered that he had said he created two new techniques. When she asked about it he said to get behind him. She raised an eyebrow at that statement but did as she was told. Naruto made a Kage Bunshin who took his place next to Naruto. They both got into the same stance but the clone mirrored Naruto's stance. Naruto once again brought down his sword from right to left in a downward motion but the clone's sword went down from left to right. On the surface of the rock a X shaped mark appeared cutting deep into the rock.

"This is 'Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' (2) and is my second technique." Naruto said.

''Wind that cuts Heaven and Earth' a truly fearsome technique' Anko thought.

Anko was at a loss of words for a few seconds but she quickly congratulated Naruto on creating two very powerful Kenjutsu techniques. She then remembered that she was supposed to bring Naruto back so that they could have lunch and start their afternoon training. They hurried back both hungry and impatient to start the training. During lunch Naruto asked his friends how their training was going. Kiba and Shino said that they had made it to about halfway up the tree but that they fell down after reaching that point. Still Naruto thought that was very good progress in just one morning of training. Hinata who was doing the kunai spinning exercise didn't fare so well, she had managed to lift the kunai and slowly spinning it for a few seconds but after that she lost control. She looked a bit disappointed but Naruto quickly told her that this exercise was meant for people of high chuunin level so being able to spin it was very good for a genin like herself. Hearing that she immediately felt better about herself and promised to do her best.

After lunch they had a small Taijutsu tournament which was a lot of fun for Naruto, he liked testing out his own style against others and he was very satisfied with the results. Though none of his friends were Taijutsu specialists expect Hinata but that was only in Jyuken he did found his style very efficient. After sparring each other twice they had half an hour of resting time before they started Ninjutsu training. Anko was going to teach them the 'Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu' a powerful fire jutsu that was commonly used by many Leaf shinobi. Naruto already knowing that one was going to learn a new Suiton jutsu named 'Suiton: Daibakufu No Jutsu' and since they were close to a river he would have enough water available for him.

When it was starting to get dark training ended for that day and everyone of them was feeling very tired but also very satisfied? They had learned new things and they had gotten a little stronger. After washing up they assembled in the kitchen so they could spent the evening together with Tazuna and his family. After a nice meal the kids started talking about the things they learned and started wondering how strong they would be after this period of training. Kiba said that he couldn't wait to kick Sasuke's ass since he disliked the boy and his arrogant behavior ever since he had met the boy. This made Naruto remember his classmate and rival, they never got along before since Sasuke was a so called genius and Naruto was dead last in his class. But now he didn't even care about his rivalry with Sasuke anymore, it was stupid and childish now that he thought about it. Kiba then told who Sasuke's teammates and sensei were, to which Kiba said that his teammates were Haruno Sakura and some nameless guy he didn't know. Naruto who saw how fired up Kiba was just let him talk about Team 7 even if he already knew this from Anko. Kiba didn't know the sensei's name but Kurenai told them that his name was Hatake Kakashi who was considered one of the best Jounin in the village. She also told them that he was a pervert, lazy and always late for several hours. After that they went up to their rooms to get some sleep since tomorrow would be a busy day again full of practice and training.

They had been training for 4 days and training was going very well for everyone. Kiba and Shino had mastered tree walking to a degree that Kurenai sensei started on the water walking exercise. They would have to completely master tree walking in their own time she said. Hinata had made very good progress as well, she had succeeded into spinning the kunai for a full 10 seconds before she lost control over it. Anko said she was proud of her progress and that she was doing really well. Hinata happy to be praised like that continued practicing hard. She had also started thinking on how to modify the Jyuken in a way that it felt natural to her, she hadn't come up with much but it was a start she realized. Naruto had made one other Kenjutsu technique that he called 'Kaze Dangan No Jutsu' (3), when he made a stabbing motion with his sword a bullet made of wind would be created. It made a small deep hole in the rock. So now he had three Kenjutsu techniques that he could use but he knew that he needed a few more of them but no matter how much he racked his brain he didn't come up with any idea's. So he decided to focus on something else for the time being, he had plenty of stuff that he could do. He took out his book on sealing and started working on his version of seals for the 'Hiraishin No Jutsu', he still had lots of work to do on memorizing and creating his seal patterns for the jutsu. He hoped that he would have it done by the time the Chuunin exams started, he wanted to show it to Ji-chan, Iruka sensei and Hideki-san.

Ninjutsu training had been going well for everyone. Kiba, Shino and Hinata each managed to produce a acceptable 'Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu' and were told to practice on their own to master it. Since that jutsu was a offensive one, Anko next decided to teach them a defensive jutsu. She decided that the jutsu Naruto used against Kiba would be very useful to them so they started on that one. Naruto learned another Suiton Jutsu that Zabuza had used during their fight called 'Mizu Bunshin No Jutsu' though a very useful Jutsu it didn't have the same effect as the Kage Bunshin when it came to learning since the Mizu Bunshin was made out of water and not out of pure chakra.

Inari, Tazuna's grandson had been very distant to the Leaf shinobi ever since they arrived. Every time they come into the room he left going to his own room. Tonight however Inari had stayed glaring at Naruto and the rest, at first they let him be but after several days if being ignored and glared at they began to get curious why he didn't seem to like them. Hinata had asked the question that would give them the answer, she had seen a picture that showed Tsunami, Inari and a third person who's part in the picture had been torn off. When she asked about it Inari got up and went upstairs. Tazuna told the gang about Inari's adoptive father who had been killed by Gato because he was considered a hero in the Wave. To break the people's spirit and will to fight he had executed Kaiza in public. Inari had never been the same after that.

"Why do you fight? There's no way that you can beat Gato and his men. You'll just get yourself killed. You think you can come here and everything will be alright again. None of you know how much we suffer and how hard life is for us." Inari yelled after coming back down.

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about. You think you got it bad? Don't make me laugh, you're just a spoiled little kid who needs to grow up. Sure, you have lost your dad and I'm sorry for that but don't believe for one second that you're the only one in the world who lost a parent. You at least have a mother and a grandfather who loves you very much, you don't know how good you have it. Have you been to town lately? When we passed through I saw kids the same age and younger than you living on the street, begging for food so that they wouldn't starve. They lost everything and yet they keep on living, fighting to survive the hand they have been dealt in life. You have a roof above your head, a warm bed and a meal at least 2 times a day yet you stand there crying about that there's no hope." Naruto exclaimed. He was furious about how Inari dishonored his father teachings by just giving up.

By now everybody in the room was staring at Naruto. Kiba, Shino and Hinata had never seen Naruto so angry and upset, until then he had always been calm and collected. Inari just stared at Naruto not believing that someone would react in such a way. Anko and Kurenai just stayed quiet waiting just in case they would have to intervene. They trusted Naruto not to do any stupid things.

"You aren't the only person to have lost someone they love. I grew up as a orphan, hated by my village for something I don't have any control over, I was called names and spit at, I was refused to enter shops and to buy food. I grew up not knowing who my parents were, not knowing if they had died or abandoned me. Anko was betrayed by someone she trusted and she was hated and mistreated by a lot of villagers as well but do you see us crying and yelling that there's no hope for the future? No, we face our problems and we fight. We fight so that our future would be better than our past because the future is all we have. Your dad understood that very well since he fought for this country but most of all he fought for your future and what do you do? You just give up not even trying to make things better, your dad would be very disappointed if he was here. He taught you how to fight for those you love yet all you do is cry about how unfair life is. Grow up! Life isn't fair, life isn't always easy but giving up is never the answer. If you give up than your dad sacrificed himself for nothing." Naruto said with tears in his eyes. He got up and left the room.

Nobody said a word, shocked from Naruto's words to Inari who was about to start crying again. His mom quickly went over and grabbed him in a hug. Anko got up and left the room in search for Naruto. In the room Kiba, Shino and Hinata were thinking about the things Naruto had said about his past. They knew he wasn't well liked by lots of people but they didn't know it was this bad. A lot of kids from school ignored him or called him names but never had they known that things went as far as refusing him entry to shops or refusing him food. That was horrible in their opinion, never had they seen Naruto do something that deserved such treatment. They vowed that if they ever saw someone mistreat Naruto again they wouldn't allow it anymore, he was their teammate and their friend. No way they would allow such a thing to happen again.

Anko found Naruto sitting at the river staring at the reflection of the moon in the water. His shoulders were slightly shaking and a tear make its way down his cheek. Anko went up to him and put her arms around him from behind. She pulled him in a fierce hug letting him know that she was there for him. He tensed a little when he felt somebody's arms around him but noticing it was Anko he relaxed and leant into the hug. They didn't say a word, they didn't need to. They sat in silence comforting each other by holding the other and knowing that the other person was there. After a while Naruto had calmed down enough that Anko broke the hug and sat next to him.

"Thank you Anko-chan, I don't know what came over me back there." Naruto said quietly.

"You don't need to thank me Naruto-kun. You know I'm here for you just as I know that you're here for me as well." Anko said taking Naruto's hand in hers.

They sat there for a while each thinking how lucky they were to have each other. When Anko asked if he wanted to spend the night outside just like they did several time during training he accepted but said his stuff was in his room. Anko told him not to worry and that she would go and get it. She got up and made her way over to the house, when she got inside everyone asked if Naruto was okay.

"Naruto's fine. He's just a little shocked about how he reacted towards Inari. He didn't mean to blow up like that but he really doesn't like people who just give up on everything when something goes wrong." Anko said.

"So, where is he now? Shouldn't he come back inside?" Tsunami asked. She was thankful to the blond shinobi because maybe now Inari would understand that he wasn't the only one who suffered in his life.

"Naruto and I will spend the night outside so I'm just coming to get his stuff. Don't worry about us Tsunami-san, we spend six months in outside so one night is nothing." Anko said while walking upstairs.

After getting their stuff she wished everyone a good night telling them that they would see them in the morning and went outside. She quickly reached the river again where she saw Naruto waiting for her. He took out his tent from the scroll and set it up. The emotions had made him very sleepy and tomorrow he would have continue training so he needed his rest. He crawled into his futon ready for a good night's sleep. Anko too was tired so she got ready for bed as well, when she turned to wish Naruto good night she saw that he had fallen asleep already.

"Goodnight Naruto-kun." She said while giving him a small kiss on the forehead before going to sleep herself.

The next day Naruto woke up feeling much better but he kind of regretted yelling at Inari that way. The boy was just a kid after all. Maybe he should apologize for yelling at him, but he wouldn't apologize for the words that he had said. He truly felt bad that Inari lost his father but he couldn't stand people who give up just because things don't go their way. Life didn't work that way. Hopefully Inari would understand that Naruto tried to help him. Looking to his right he saw a sleeping Anko with a cute little smile on her face. He supposed she was having a good dream, secretly he hoped that she was dreaming about the both of them. He really liked her more and more, it was driving him crazy, he thought about her more than anything else throughout the day. The things he would do so he could be the man of her dreams. Sighing he got up and prepared for the day.

Anko had been having a wonderful dream. She was dreaming about her and Naruto doing all kind of things that couple do like going for a walk, kissing and yes even making love. Her body shivered at that thought, thinking of her and Naruto doing stuff like that send her body over the edge. She still was a little afraid though, Naruto was the first who made her feel those kind of things. Never before had a man affected her in such a way. When she and Kurenai went out on their free evenings she received a lot of attention from the males but she never really was interested in more than flirting. Anything more than that was over the line for her and she stopped. With Naruto however she wanted more than just flirting, she wanted to be kissed by him and be touched by him and those feelings and desire were driving her nuts. All she had to do was look at him and those feelings went rampant in her head. She would have to talk to Kurenai about this.

* * *

'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' means 'wind that cuts the Heaven'

This is the first of Naruto's original Kenjutsu techniques. It created as cutting wind by bringing down his sword from right to left. The wind is infused with Naruto's chakra that was stored into the seal. Using that chakra the wind becomes very sharp and it is used as a long range attack.

'Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' means 'Wind that cuts Heaven and Earth'

This is the same jutsu as before only Naruto makes a clone which mirrors his attack. So while Naruto makes a right to left slash, his clone makes a left to right one resulting in a X shaped attack with twice the cutting power of 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu'

'Kaze Dangan No Jutsu' means 'Wind bullet technique'

In this technique Naruto makes a stabbing motion with his sword. By doing that he expulses the chakra gathered in the seal on his sword and creates a bullet that will travel in a straight line towards the enemy.

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This concludes Chapter 9, I hope you enjoyed it. There wasn't a lot of action but hopefully a lot of emotions especially with Naruto, Anko and Inari.

Next 'Chapter 10: Battle for the future' will be released on Sunday 30th of March.

Naruto and Anko face Zabuza once more while Kurenai has to deal with the mysterious hunternin. See you guy's then.


	10. Chapter 10: Battle for the future

I don't own Naruto.

Hello, everybody how is everything going? For me everything is going alright although exams are getting closer and closer so I will have to start preparing for those unfortunately. I hate exams with a passion but then again after the exams it's summer holiday meaning lots of free time to write and have fun.

Anyway, thanks again to all the people who reviewed this week, I'm really grateful for all your comments and suggestions.

I'm now planning to start writing the chuunin exams and hopefully I can write it in a way that everyone likes it. It wasn't easy but I think I got it about right but I may have to make some changes here and there. I'm currently breaking my head over several issues like fights, interaction and things like that but I'm confident that I'll be able to sort it all out.

I'm a bit proud of how the chapter below turned out. It took some serious thinking and rewriting but in the end I think I did okay. Let me know what you think of it. Enjoy.

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Chapter 10: Battle for the future

Finally after 10 days training ended, they now started to guard Tazuna and the men who were building the bridge since they didn't want to take a chance of Zabuza healing and attacking faster than expected. So each day at least one Jounin, a genin and a Kage Bunshin were present at the bridge. In case of an attack the Kage Bunshin would dispel itself and warn Naruto and the others. When the full two week were over all members of the team went to guard Tazuna and the bridge. Naruto did leave several Kage Bunshins at Tazuna's home since he wouldn't be surprised if they tried to attack Tsunami and Inari when they were gone. When Naruto awoke that morning he felt restless and he suspected that the battle would happen today. He told everyone how he felt and they made sure to be prepared for the worst.

Naruto double checked everything from his sword to his hip holster that held his throwing knives just to check everything worked alright. It wouldn't do if in the middle of battle he noticed he had forgotten his sword of something like that. When they left he make several Kage Bunshins and Bakuretsu Kage Bunshins as backup and as protection for Tsunami and Inari. Better be safe than sorry he thought. After everything checked out fine, he went outside waiting for the rest of the team. Though it didn't show he was really nervous about having to fight Zabuza again. No doubt that hunter nin would be there as well. He really hoped everything would work out well and that nobody would get hurt or worse killed.

When he was thinking everybody had gotten ready and joined him outside ready to leave. Everyone nodded their goodbye to Tsunami and she wished them a safe day. Wishing Tsunami a good day as well the party left for the bridge. The bridge was almost completed so now was the time for Gato to strike. When they reached the bridge after a peaceful trip without any encounters they saw that the bridge was filled with wounded or even dead people. The workmen had arrived some time before and apparently so had Zabuza. Naruto cursed and made a few dozen Kage Bunshins.

"Alright listen up. All of you except ten start moving the injured back to the village and alert them of the danger." Naruto ordered them. Soon the wounded were out of harm way making the bridge free for battle.

"Next the ten of you protect Tazuna at all costs. Got him somewhere safe and keep him there. I'll make sure nobody will be able to follow you. Now go quickly." Naruto said dismissing his clones. Tazuna protested but in the end there was nothing he could do.

Naruto retreated several feet and then used the 'Doton: Doryuuheki No Jutsu' to separate Tazuna from the shinobi group by a high and tick mud wall. That way he would be save from attacks and they wouldn't have to concentrate on protecting him. Also with the number of Kage Bunshin that were guarding him there was no way he would get hurt.

"Good thinking Naruto. With the wounded and Tazuna out of the way we won't have to worry about them. We can fight without holding back." Shino said.

Naruto nodded and then focused his attention to the other side of the bridge where he was sure Zabuza and his accomplice were waiting for them. So with as much courage as he could gather he took a step forward and the rest followed. After a minute of walking Zabuza and the hunternin came into view but with them were about thirty common thugs who were waiting to attack the village. They hadn't even thought of the fact that Zabuza would have such a number of men at his disposal, this complicated things.

"Alright listen up. Kiba, Shino and Hinata you guys take on the thugs and stop them from entering the village. Anko and I will take on Zabuza, no doubt he wouldn't hold back this time. Kurenai sensei can you take care of that hunternin?" Naruto said taking control of the situation. Everyone nodded saying that they would take care of their part in the fight.

Zabuza cursed. Damn that brat, he came up with a good way to fight he thought. He wondered if the blonde was some kind of genius making up such a plan in just a few seconds time. He would not take any risks this time. He would go all out straight from the beginning, he couldn't afford any more mistakes on his part. He looked at the nin, a young boy called Haku next to him and knew that the kid was in for a though fight. Even with his special bloodline fighting a Genjutsu specialist would be dangerous. He hoped the kid would survive, he needed him for his plans. He didn't care less about any of the men that Gato had ordered him to take. For all he cared they could just get themselves killed which was a likely outcome since they would face three shinobi. Sure they were genin but they were shinobi nonetheless so chances of them winning were small. Then he started to think about his own fight, facing a strong genin like that brat and a Jounin of Mitarashi's level would be dangerous to say to least.

Suddenly without any visible sign all hell broke loose. The three other genin had rushed in to start the attack on those thugs. Zabuza let them pass without even blinking an eye at them. They were not his opponent. Haku made his calmly made his way over to his opponent leaving Zabuza alone with Naruto and Anko.

"So brat, we meet again and let me assure you this time I won't go easy on you. I was careless last time and paid heavily for that one, but I guess I can only blame myself. But now the fight really begins I hope you got stronger over the past two weeks cause otherwise you won't last very long." Zabuza said addressing Naruto.

"Give it your best shot Zabuza, we will take on everything you've got and more but in the end we will be the ones who will still be breathing at the end of the day. You however will not be leaving this place." Naruto said smirking. While he said this he slowly unsheathed his sword and took a battle stance. Anko took out a kunai and got into position as well.

Zabuza snorted at Naruto's answer and took a firm hold of his sword. For about two seconds they stared into each other's eyes and shot forward. The sound of two swords colliding filled the area and marked the start of the battle that would be told for years to come and would be one of the biggest moments in the history of the Wave.

Naruto and Zabuza had attacked at the same time and were now trying to overpower the other one. Zabuza being taller, stronger and older had the advantage and started to push Naruto back. Just as he was about to overpower Naruto he felt someone coming in from behind and had to evade a blow to the back. Anko, who had hoped to get him in the back missed and had to quickly block a kick from Zabuza. Naruto had taking the time to rest from the power struggle and was now ready to counterattack again. He pushed forward and tried to catch Zabuza with a horizontal blow aimed at his chest. Zabuza easily blocked the sword and retaliated with a punch to Naruto's face. Getting hit hard in the jaw Naruto stumbled backwards a little woozy from the blow, Zabuza seeing this gripped his sword and prepared to cut Naruto in half but before he even got close he got hit in the face from Anko's heel.

'Damn it, they work good together. One attacks while the other rest up and waits for an opening or to protect the other. This is bad, I need to find something to separate them.' Zabuza furiously thought. If this kept up he would lose he realized. He attacked Naruto again trading blows with him while trying to come up with a plan.

Kiba, Shino and Hinata who were fighting a large number of enemies had quickly come up with a strategy to fight.

"Okay, we need to stop these guys from entering the village. Even though they're just thugs and bandits, there's a lot of them so we need to be careful. Shino any ideas on how to handle this?" Kiba asked his teammate. He knew that Shino always remained calm and usually could come up with a good strategy.

"I have a strategy that could work. You and Hinata attack them head on, separate them and take them down. While you guys do that I will guard the rear and take out those few who get past the two of you. I'll also order my bugs to attack and distract those who you'll be fighting. Hinata, show them what the Jyuken is capable of and don't hold back. Kiba, you and Akamaru show them what teamwork is all about." Shino said finishing his talk.

Kiba and Hinata nodded knowing that this would be a very good way to fight a large number of enemies and prepared themselves for a long fight. Since there were so many of them they would have to be careful but they were sure they could win. They wouldn't let their sensei's and Naruto down, they had a job to do and they would do it right. Seeing that the men were ready to attack the three genin got ready as well.

Kiba and Akamaru used 'Juujin Bunshin No Jutsu' which had freaked out some of the men who were watching. He and Akamaru then started to attack the mob with 'Gatsuuga' which proved to be very effective in hurting them. Hinata started out with a very nice 'Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu' which forced the mob to separate so that they wouldn't get burned. This made it easier for her to fight them with her Jyuken. Shino ordered his bugs to start draining the enemies chakra, his bugs also acted as a distraction to aid his teammates. After several minutes several thug had been neutralized and the ones remaining started to have second thoughts about fighting these young shinobi. They had expected an easy fight and then to be able to destroy the village and have some fun. Coming here now seemed to be a big mistake on their part.

Kurenai was annoyed at the way her fight was going. They had been fighting for a few minutes now and neither of them had succeed in landing a hit. The shinobi in front of her was skilled she admitted. He was fast, agile and had very good reflexes. He was also very skilled with his senbon, using them the same way she used a kunai. Charging forward for another blow they both met in mid attack. Senbon met kunai and neither of them was willing to move an inch.

"You are very skilled and strong Kurenai-san. It's a honor to fight you." The masked boy said to Kurenai.

"I could say the same thing to you. Those senbon are very annoying." Kurenai said returning the compliment.

"You're strong Kurenai-san, most likely stronger than myself but unfortunately for you I have an advantage in this fight." The boy admitted.

Kurenai was surprised. What did he mean with advantage? Could he mean a advanced bloodline limit? If so than this could be bad for her she realized. She saw him lower his free hand and starting to do one handed seals. She didn't expected the boy to know such difficult handseals. One handed seals were very different from normal seals and several times harder to perform yet this boy seemed to do them with ease. Hearing him yelling out 'Sensatsu Suishou' a thousand needles made from water appeared and were headed for her. She quickly focused chakra to her legs and jumped away from the needles. This was dangerous she thought if this boy is a water elemental than she had as good as lost the fight. Since they were on a bridge he had an infinite supply of water all around them. Giving him no time to use the jutsu again she charged.

While everyone was fighting Inari however was in deep thought. After he gotten over the fact that he had been yelled at by Naruto he had started thinking about what Naruto had said. He was coming to the conclusion that everything Naruto had told him seemed true. Two days after being yelled at he had accompanied his mom when she when to town for shopping. Ever since his dad was executed he hadn't been to town so when he saw kids younger than him on the street begging for food or some money he felled really ashamed of himself. 'Naruto was right' he thought 'I'm nothing but a spoiled kid.' He asked his mom if he could give some of his pocket money to the kids. When she heard that she hugged him and said that she had never been so proud of him as she was now. When Inari saw the little kids face light up as he gave her some money he promised that he wouldn't run or complain anymore. Since then he had been thinking about how he should apologize to Naruto for saying those awful things to him. But even now he hadn't come up with a good way and it was frustrating him.

Suddenly he heard something breaking downstairs. He went down to check if his mom was ok when he saw two samurai holding him mom trying to take her away. He started panicking. They wanted to take his mom away from him and probably hurt her. He couldn't allow that to happen, Gato had already taken his dad away from him no way would he allow his mom being taken as well. He would have to fight but how? He was just a kid, what could he do against two grownup men? Seeing as they almost left the house he decided that he would do whatever he could, grabbing a weapon of some sort he ran down the stairs after them. He then yelled out that he wouldn't let them take his mom. Tsunami saw Inari charging the two men and feared for the life of her only son. He was just a boy, he couldn't win this fight.

"Well well, what do we have here? A boy trying to be a hero and save him mommy. Go home kid there's nothing you can do to save your mom. If you attack us we will kill you. So be a good kid and go back inside. We were just ordered to take your mom so there's no need for you to die.'" One of the men said.

"I'm not letting you take my mom. It's my duty to protect her. My dad told me to take care of her and I will even if I die." Inari bravely said.

"Look kid, do whatever you think you have to do but know this I will not hold back even if you're a kid. Hurry up, we were promised some fun with your mom." The man holding Tsunami said.

The man next heard a young masculine voice coming from the person he held capture in his arms saying that he didn't swing that way. Both of the attackers looked and saw that instead of holding Tsunami they were now hold a young boy with blonde hair. Before they could even begin to understand what happened a knife embedded itself into their skull causing them to die instantly.

One of Naruto's Kage Bunshins had used the 'Kawarimi No Jutsu' on Tsunami and had taken her place without anyone noticing. Since Tsunami and Inari were now safe the other clones had finished the job. When Inari asked what was going on one of the Bunshin said that they were ordered by the original Naruto to protect Inari and his mom. Tsunami and Inari couldn't help but feel very thankful to Naruto for thinking of them. Inari would thank Naruto for everything he had done the moment he got back he promised himself.

Back on the bridge Naruto was getting tired, even with two on one Zabuza proved to be a very difficult and dangerous opponent. Blocking the hard and powerful blows of Zabuza's sword ate away at his chakra and the muscles in his arms and shoulders were in pain from having to block such blows. Anko as well was getting tired, that damn Mist shinobi was stronger than she originally thought. They would have to finish this quickly if they wanted to survive.

She noticed Naruto making a sign that meant that he wanted her to distract Zabuza for a brief moment. She had no idea what he was planning but she trusted him with her life. If he wanted her to distract Zabuza then that was what she would do. Letting out a shout she charged him, she started doing handseals and used 'Katon: Housenka no Jutsu' and fired several balls of fire in Zabuza's direction. This forced him to back up and shield behind his sword so he wouldn't get burned. Seeing he was shielding himself with his sword she quickly used 'Senei Jashuu' to grab him. This jutsu was one of the jutsu she learned from Orochimaru, it allowed her to summon snakes out of her sleeves which shot at the opponent. The snakes would bite and grab him and she would be able to pull him towards her.

Zabuza who was shielding himself from the balls of fire didn't have time to block or destroy the many snakes that now were biting and grabbing him. Suddenly he felt himself being pulled forward and he flew right into Anko's fist who practically shattered his jaw. Crashing down he stood up holding his jaw with his hand trying to bite trough the pain. Anko suddenly heard Naruto yelling for her to move to her right. Losing no time she jumped as far as she could to her right side. Next thing she knew she felt a huge gust of wind passed right next to her.

Naruto had been preparing for his next attack and was now waiting for an opening. When he saw Zabuza flying back from Anko punch to the face he knew it was now or never. Yelling to Anko to get out of the way he raised his sword.

Zabuza heard the blonde yell at his teammate and looked up. He had been hit hard enough for him to actually see stars around his head. He heard the blonde call out his next attack. But seeing as he was standing a fair distance from him he figured he would have time to block or evade the incoming attack.

Naruto brought his sword down yelling 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' and watched as his attack harmlessly passed Anko.

Zabuza however wasn't so lucky. When he saw the brat bringing his sword down he realized that this was a long rage attack. Cursing he tried to get up but still hurting from the hit in his face all he could do was once again hiding behind his faithful sword. When the attack made impact however he couldn't hold on and flew several feet backwards crashing into the bridge once again. He couldn't believe the raw power of this attack, it had literally blown him away.

'What the hell was that? It knocked my right off my feet. Who the hell is this kid? It I didn't block that it would have cleaved me in half. Where does that kid get such power?' Zabuza thought.

Naruto cursed he had intended to finish the fight right there but Zabuza had managed to block his 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu'. Now he would be on his guard and it would be difficult to use the technique again. Using that technique took a lot of chakra and it wasn't like he could do it all day long. Though Zabuza didn't know about the two other techniques he had, he would have to careful not to waste them by using them too soon. Anko whistled seeing the power of Naruto's attack, it seemed to be as strong as she thought it would be. Too bad Zabuza had managed to get away, but they would try again.

Zabuza grabbed his sword that he had fallen out of his hands when he landed but when he picked it up he froze. He took a closer look and saw a crack in his sword.

'Impossible. This sword is one of the strongest swords in the Mist and it got cracked by that attack. How is this even possible? Nothing has ever damaged his sword before.' Zabuza told himself when he saw the crack. If he took any more of those attack his sword would eventually break into pieces.

While Zabuza inspected his sword Naruto and Anko wasted no time and started their combined attack again. Naruto who had also seen the crack in Zabuza's sword tried to focus on further cracking the blade while Anko focused on injuring Zabuza. Even with the recent hits he received Zabuza proved to be an excellent shinobi and fought back while trying to hold his ground. He brought down his sword towards Anko but Naruto appeared in front of her blocking the sword. Anko immediately reacted and kicked Zabuza in the ribs. Satisfied when she heard the noise of one or more ribs breaking she backed away. Naruto too jumped backwards and make a clone both taking their battle stance again.

Wincing when he felt his ribs break Zabuza saw Naruto getting ready to do his attack again, seeing the clone take the same stance he figured than they would do the attack twice. So even when he evaded the first blow he would have to deal with the second one. He remembered how the brat brought his sword down from right to left so if he simply leaned to his left he would be okay. The kick to the ribs had severely slowed him down and if he tried to move too quickly he would only make it hurt worse. So he would dodge the attacks by a minimum of movement.

Anko seeing the stance of Naruto's second technique jumped behind Naruto making sure she was out of harm's way. The second she was behind Naruto, he and his clone brought down their sword and yelled 'Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu'.

Hearing a different name than the first time Zabuza realized he made a big mistake. He saw something X shaped heading towards him and having no other choice he once again put his sword in front of him hoping it would stop the attack. He braced himself but when he felt the attack hitting him he realized that there was no way he would be able to remain standing. Crashing into the hard surface of the bridge he gasped at the pain his ribs gave him and asked himself why he ever took this job. Sitting up he grabbed the handle of his sword glad that it had survived the blow but when he lifted it he heard it break into several pieces. He had lost this fight. No way he could win now.

Naruto made four more clones so now there were six Naruto's standing on the bridge. Each one took their sword and held it in front of them pointing towards Zabuza. Naruto decided to give the man a chance to surrender and save his life.

"This is the end Zabuza. Surrender and I will spare your life. Otherwise I will be forced to end your life on this very bridge." Naruto said.

"That's one thing I can't do brat. I'm a proud shinobi and to surrender would be a disgrace. I have fought proudly and I will die the same way." Zabuza answered.

"Very well, since that's the choice you made you leave me no choice. But know this Momochi Zabuza, It was an honor fighting a strong shinobi as yourself. I have learned a lot from our fights and for that I thank you. Know also that my next attack was inspired by you." Naruto said giving Zabuza a small bow of the head showing his respect to the defeated shinobi. He and each clone took a stance which Anko recognized as the stance for his third technique.

"This is it. 'Hiden Uzumaki style: Gingakei Saidan Kaze Dangan No Jutsu' (1)" Naruto yelled and with that every Naruto's sword pierced the air and create 6 air bullets which impacted Zabuza only a second later.

Anko saw the six Naruto's perform his third Kenjutsu technique and when she looked at Zabuza 6 holes had appeared in his upper body. Each hole had targeted a organ that if injured was lethal. Zabuza's heart, liver, kidneys and lungs were punctured by Naruto's jutsu. One of those wounds was lethal but all six of them meant instant death. She wondered when Naruto learned this move and why he didn't show it to her.

Naruto dispelled his clones and fell on his knees. He truly wished Zabuza would surrender but it wasn't meant to be. He did understand Zabuza's reasoning however, for a shinobi death with honor was acceptable. And as a swordsmen he lived by the sword and he would die by it. Zabuza knew and understood this better than anyone. Still he regretted killing the man, he would never get used to killing he was sure of that. Anko went over and hugged him telling him that he had done the right thing. He allowed the man to die with dignity and that was all Zabuza wanted. He nodded and got up saying that they should help their team members. Anko nodded and made her way over to Kurenai while Naruto went to join Kiba and the rest.

Kurenai and her opponent found themselves almost evenly matched. Until now neither of them was able to take the advantage on the other. But that changed when Haku used his bloodline limit to its fullest possibilities. He had made several mirrors of ice around Kurenai making it look like she was in the of a large dome. All around and above her were mirrors and it was worrying her, she had no idea what was going to happen. She saw her opponent back away until he reached a mirror and shocked she saw him get inside it. He then told her that this was his ultimate bloodline jutsu and that it was unbeatable.

Kurenai looked around trying to find a way to escapes this very dangerous situation. She quickly turned around and tried to run towards the free space between the mirrors on the other side of the dome, when she thought she had made Haku already appeared in the mirror before her.

"Trying to run is useless Kurenai-san. When I use this jutsu I'm at least twice as fast than I normally am. There is no way you'll be able to outrun me here." Haku announced.

Kurenai forced herself to calm down, there had to be a way to defeat these mirrors. Maybe she could melt them with a fire jutsu but she doubted it. Trying it would be a waste of chakra in her opinion and she needed every bit of it. She grabbed a kunai in each hand and waited for his attack. Not a second later she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder, looking at what might have caused it she saw a senbon sticking out of it. She quickly pulled it out but no sooner Haku disappeared from the mirror before her and started to appear in several other mirrors. The next thing she knew several senbon had stabbed her all over her body.

'Damn it, I can't even see him move. How many of those senbon does he have with him? This is crazy, I need to do something quick or else this will end bad.' Kurenai said trying to think of something. She started to protect her vitals but couldn't prevent from getting hit several times.

Haku who had been throwing senbon upon senbon at Kurenai was getting tired, this jutsu needed a lot of chakra to maintain and he might need chakra if he needed to help Zabuza fight the rest of these Leaf shinobi. He needed to end this fight. He moved out a mirror to end the fight but just then he looked outside his dome and he saw Zabuza about getting hit from that blonde guy's attack. He stopped his advance on Kurenai and when he saw that Zabuza wouldn't or couldn't move, he ran passed Kurenai trying to reach him in time.

Kurenai however had seen Haku slow down and stop, and she quickly cast a Genjutsu on the exit he was running to making it so that he would run straight at her instead of outside. She held out her kunai and ran towards Haku. When they met Haku ran straight into the kunai piercing his heart killing him. She saw the mirrors were starting to break and disappear so she calmly walk outside the dome. When she got outside she saw Anko heading towards her and smiled happy that both of them had survived.

Kiba, Hinata and Shino had devastated the small army of thugs. Kiba and Akamaru tore through their ranks like they weren't even there. Hinata had defeated several thugs with her Jyuken and with every enemy she defeated her self confidence grew by leaps and bounds. Seeing that she could fight using the Jyuken told her that she wasn't weak or useless like she had thought she was. Thanks to Naruto and the rest of the team she had become stronger over the last two weeks and it showed.

Shino stood there looking at the way Hinata defeated enemy after enemy finding it hard to believe how she could think that she was weak and useless. Judging by the number of enemies still standing he saw that they had defeated about ¾ of them. The remaining ones didn't seem to eager to continue the fight but he wouldn't let them escape. He ordered his bugs to attack them.

All of the sudden they heard someone yell saying that this was the end. Everybody stopped fighting to look what was happening. Everybody saw Zabuza getting hit with Naruto's attack and saw him falling down. Even the thugs knew that he wouldn't get back up and it scared them so much that they started to run towards the edge of the bridge trying to board the boat on which they got here. Hinata, Kiba and Shino prevented them from doing just that and defeated them in record time.

They saw Naruto coming their way and decided to meet him halfway. Anko and Kurenai were running towards them as well. They all met in the middle of the bridge each one more exhausted than the next but they were all alive and relatively unhurt and that was what mattered most. Kurenai was about to congratulate everybody for a job well done when they heard clapping. They turned around and saw several dozen men standing there with weapons and one man with a cane.

"Well, its seem Zabuza and his brat were as useless as I thought them to be. But I suppose I should thank you guys for taking him out in my place. You saved me quite some trouble." Gato laughed loudly finding the whole situation very amusing.

The leaf shinobi couldn't believe their bad luck. Just as they thought the battle was over this happens. They were exhausted and having to fight this many men again would be very hard and dangerous. Just as they prepared for an attack a arrow hit Gato right between the eye's. turning their heads they saw the whole village standing there armed to the teeth and ready to fight for their country. Apparently Tazuna and Inari had rounded up every villager to come and fight Gato and his men in order to restore peace in their lives.

Seeing that the thugs were getting scared by the number of villagers Naruto decided to help out a little and made as much Kage Bunshins as he could. In an instant several dozen clones popped into existence and took out their sword and got ready to attack. The large number of villagers and clones was enough to scare the thugs so they hurriedly got onto the boat and left.

After dismissing the clones Naruto fell down on the ground exhausted and hurting all over his body. Hinata, Kiba and Shino sat down next to him tired and sleepy as well. All four of them were grinning like crazy though. They had fought an amazing enemy and they had won. They felt really proud of themselves. Not even five minutes later all four of them had fallen asleep and never felt how they were carried back to Tazuna's house like hero's.

* * *

'Hiden Uzumaki style: Gingakei Saidan Kaze Dangan No Jutsu' means ' Secret Uzumaki style: Wind bullets that pierces the galaxy'

This is the first secret technique of Naruto's Kenjutsu style. He makes five Kage Bunshins and each one performs the 'Kaze Dangan no Jutsu'. So six bullets impact the enemy's body but each bullet is aimed at a vital point. Naruto based this technique on Zabuza's silent killing style. He aims the bullets at the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys making getting hit by this technique an instant death.

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This concludes Chapter 10 of 'The Story of Uzumaki Naruto' I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Next Chapter will be released on Sunday the 6th of April.

Chapter 11: Feelings and secrets.

Anko talks about her feelings for Naruto to Kurenai and makes a decision. How will Naruto and the team react?


	11. Chapter 11: Feelings and Secrets

I don' own Naruto. I'm just a person hoping and dreaming to one day create something as big and successful as Naruto.

Warning extremely fluffy chapter. You have been warned. Some people will complain and say that Anko is out of character which is true but I wanted it that way. To me Anko is a character that's emotionally vulnerable and while she may be playful and likes flirting with men she isn't interested in, her feelings for Naruto are very new and confusing to her. That's way she reacts the way she does. Don't get me wrong I like how some people portray Anko as a semi-crazy, sadistic woman (as long she not being portrayed as a slut) because they're fun to read but I wanted to write a more emotional Anko.

Thanks to all the people who reviewed once again. I hope you guys like this chapter as well. Of all the Chapters I have written I feel the most insecure about this one so let me know how it was.

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Chapter 11: Feelings and secrets

While the village was celebrating the end of Gato's reign of terror Naruto and the rest were sleeping like newborn baby's resting from the fights and the emotions. Anko and Kurenai had awoken several hours ago but the four genin (and 1 dog) were still sleeping off their fatigue. Anko and Kurenai had told each other their side of the battle. They would have to report everything to the Hokage so they better had have their stories complete. It helped that writing their report took some time because Anko was slowly getting crazy wanting to talk to Naruto. She had checked up on him several times already each time to restrain herself from either kissing him or waking him up. Kurenai thought it was hilarious to see Anko react that way. Needless to say Anko was not amused with Kurenai's teasing.

"Stop it Kurenai, it's not funny. I really don't know what to do anymore. I'm going crazy here and all you do is laugh at me." Anko said close to crying.

Seeing that her friend was close to start crying Kurenai stopped her teasing and told Anko to follow her. They stood up and left the house going to sit by the river. Kurenai realized that these kind of emotions were very new and scary to Anko. Her friend had always closed her heart to anyone ever since Orochimaru, a man she admired above no other when she was young, had abandoned her before betraying the village. All of the sudden that man became public enemy number one and since she was his student they treated her as if she was a traitor herself. As she was still a little girl at the time it left her very hurt and emotionally vulnerable. She closed off her heart for people so she couldn't get betrayed and hurt again. And until Naruto came along no one had managed to make it into her heart. After years of being alone she now had somebody who she could relate to and who she deeply cared for and it scared her.

"Talk to me Anko, tell me what's wrong." Kurenai softly said.

"I'm going out of my mind, Kurenai. Ever since I met Naruto things completely changed. I don't know how to act or what to do anymore. We got along great from the beginning and we had a really good tie together and at the end of the second month of his training he pulled me aside and gave me a small package. When I opened it I saw these three beautifully forged knives that he had made especially for me. He made them as a thank you for all I had done for him. All I did was teaching him things he should have been taught in the academy and some sparring. Never had I received such a thoughtful present before, it literally shocked me into silence. I gave him a hug and a kiss on each cheek shocking myself and him." She said taking out one of her knives to show Kurenai. When she saw it Kurenai could believe Naruto had made such a beautiful knife. It was exquisite and almost a piece of art.

"Amazing aren't they? I never leave without them, they make me feel safe like no other weapon ever could. Then three months into Naruto's training he learned who his parents were, don't ask me who they were I won't tell, but it made him break down in front of me. He cried and cried until I couldn't stand it anymore and I grabbed him in a hug again. You know me, I have almost never hugged a boy, let alone a young man before. I don't know what came over me but I just needed to hold him and comfort him. He cried into my shoulder for what seemed like hours and he eventually fell asleep in my arms. And the next thing I know I gave him a kiss on the forehead. I was stunned at what I did but it felt so good to give him that little kiss." She smiled softly remembering giving that little kiss.

"The next morning he made me the best breakfast ever, I swear he's a wonderful cook, and then he thanked me for what I did. And again I hugged him and then he called me Anko-chan. You know that if someone else had called me that before I would have put him in the hospital, but when Naruto called me that it made me feel really strange. My heart just started beating like I had run a marathon and what do I say? I tell him that it's alright for him to call me that. Never have I allowed someone to call me that yet I allowed it to Naruto." Anko said actually feeling a little relieved already.

Kurenai had been listening very carefully to her friend and knew that Anko was starting to fall in love or already had falling in love with Naruto but didn't realize it yet. Seeing Anko was about to continue her story she focused her attention back on her.

"That all happened at the beginning of the third month and during that month I had the best time of my life. We trained really hard and he made excellent progress but once training was over it was like he was a whole different person. During training he was serious and always did what he was asked of him. If I told him to do five hundred pushups he did them without complaining. But once training was over he became a normal boy who told jokes and things like that. When I asked him about it he said that during training I was his sensei and that he wouldn't disrespect me by goofing off or being stubborn. You have no idea how good it felt to be respected by someone after all these years. I know you were always by my side and I'm eternally grateful for you friendship but when Naruto said those words I thought I was going to faint from happiness.

Then one night he told me about how his life had been and let me tell you it wasn't pretty. When he was done I told him about my past. Never have I spoken about what Orochimaru had done to me and others but that night I told Naruto everything. From beginning to end I told him about the experiments, the curse seal and all the rest that man had done. Then he got up and promised to me that if he ever found Orochimaru he would kick his ass. Just like that. I had to make him promise to run if he ever encountered Orochimaru but he only agreed to run if he didn't threaten or hurt any of his precious people. And then he said the words that just rocked my world. "you are my precious person and I will not allow anyone to ever hurt you again". Hearing that my heart almost exploded." Anko finished softly with a smile on her beautiful face.

Kurenai had smiled when she heard Naruto's words. He really had gotten through to Anko with those words. They were everything Anko always had wanted to hear from someone. She started to respect Naruto more and more. Sure she already respected Naruto as a really talented shinobi and she never hated him because of the Kyuubi but now he truly had her respect as a friend and person. To do what he did for Anko put Naruto in what she called 'the good men' group in her head. Most of Konoha's male population was filed under her 'pervert and scum' group.

"After those six months together I was so used to have him by my side that I didn't want those months to end. But after we met with you and your team we went to his place. When we arrived we found his place vandalized and several hate messages lying on the floor wrapped around a stone. I was furious. I thought that if I ever found who did this to my Naruto-kun he wouldn't survive the day. I called him 'my Naruto-kun', at the time I didn't think about it but it felt so right to call him that. Then I just grabbed him and told him that he was staying at my place from now on.

When I saw Zabuza cut down that clone who we all thought was Naruto I felt my world collapse, I felt horrible and thought I was going to die. That one second before the clone exploded was without a doubt the most terrible experience in my life. Then when I realized that he was still alive I almost tackled him and kissed him right there, I was so happy he was okay. Then a few days ago I had a wonderful dream about the both of us doing couples stuff you know, holding hands, kissing and making love. I swear I almost lost it right there. Now every time I look at him I just want to kiss and hold him. I'm really lost Kurenai, what's wrong with me? Why do I feel this way?" Anko said tears running down her cheeks.

Kurenai pulled Anko into a hug allowing her to cry for a bit. She knew Anko needed to let it out. The past few days were stressful on her mind and body and now it all come out. After she had cried a little Anko had calmed down enough to listen to Kurenai.

"Anko there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Do you really not know what those feelings are? It's simple. Love. You love Naruto with all your heart. You want to hold him and kiss him because that's what people who are in love do. It's natural to have these feelings. You and Naruto have a lot in common and you both had a terrible past. Things like that connects people. When he feels sad so do you, when he's happy so are you. That's what it means to be in love. You want my advice? Tell him how you feel. Go up to him, grab him and go for a walk and talk to him about your feelings." Kurenai said.

"But what if I screw up? What if he doesn't feel the same about me? I would ruin everything." Anko said afraid of telling Naruto about her feelings.

"Are you kidding me Anko? The boy adores you. He's always looking where you are, when you talk to him his eyes shine like crystals in the sun, he's always concerned about you. The boy loves you Anko. There isn't any doubt in my mind about that. But just like you he's afraid of screwing up and hurting you or getting hurt." Kurenai said smiling.

"But what about Konoha? I mean I'm 10 years older than him. I don't care about that but some people will. You know how things go in the village." Anko said knowing that this could mean trouble for both her and Naruto.

"Well, if you're really worried about that I suggest you wait until after the chuunin exams to make it official. They can't do anything after that. I mean Naruto is almost certain of being promoted to chuunin. Can you imagine their faces when they hear he defeated Momochi Zabuza. If he's a chuunin than he's a fully certified shinobi and an adult so there nothing they can say. In my honest opinion I think you should tell him while we're here. You'll never be left alone in the village and there are ears everywhere. Here at least you won't have to worry about that." Kurenai said trying to help her friend.

Anko said that she would think about it since they would be here for at least another week. The mission only ended when the bridge was done and that would take at least one week. So she still had a little time to sort out her feelings and talk to Naruto. Kurenai nodded and together they made their way back to the house. Before going inside Anko hugged her friend and thanked her for listening and her advice. Laughing Kurenai told her she was more than welcome and that she was expecting to be invited at the wedding. Anko blushed hearing the word wedding.

While the two women were outside talking Naruto had woken up finding the house empty expect for his teammates who were still sleeping. Shrugging Naruto went downstairs in his boxers trying to find out where everybody was. Just when he came down the stairs Anko and Kurenai opened the front door. When Anko saw Naruto and Naruto saw Anko both froze and went red in the face, Anko stared and Naruto was trying to cover himself up. Remembering where he had left his clothes he quickly told them that he would be right back and disappeared.

Anko couldn't believe her luck, this just had to happen when Kurenai was standing behind her. She would never live this down she just knew it. Still red in the face from seeing Naruto in his boxers she went straight for the kitchen trying to pretend nothing happened. I mean it wasn't the first time she saw a man in his boxers, you see some crazy things after midnight thanks to sake. But the fact that it was Naruto in his boxers blew her mind away. Beside her Kurenai was trying to hold her laugh but it proved to be very hard. Seeing both Naruto and Anko turning red in the face really was funny, she couldn't help it.

A few minutes later Naruto came back down with Kiba, Shino and Hinata in tow. Sitting down in the kitchen neither Naruto or Anko dared to look at each other. After a few minutes Kiba asked about how they had defeated Zabuza and the hunternin. Thankful for the chance to talk about something they each told their story. When Naruto told them about the sword techniques Kurenai and the other genin wanted to see them performed. So they went outside to the place Naruto had learned and practiced his moves. After some his first three techniques Anko asked him about his fourth one and when he had made that one.

"Well, I kind of thought about it during the fight. I remembered how he told about silent killing and I thought that would be a cool technique so I decided to try it." Naruto admitted shyly. With that he demonstrated his final Kenjutsu technique.

"You invented such a powerful technique on the spur of the moment?" They all asked him stunned by his answer.

"Euh, yeah why?" Naruto asked not really understanding what the fuss was about.

They all looked at him and started shaking their head and saying some about hidden genius or something like that. Then they congratulated Naruto on making such powerful techniques on his own. He just brushed them off saying it was nothing. He also said that he would make many more powerful jutsu so when he had a family he could teach them to his children. Nobody, not even Anko missed the way he looked at her when he said family. Anko heart melted seeing the look in his eyes and made her decision to tell him how she fell as soon as she was alone with him. Kurenai seeing the look on Anko 's face realized that Anko had made her decision and couldn't be happier. Now if only she would get them alone for a while.

"Very well, once again well done everyone. You all have become very strong these past two weeks and we're very proud of you. Now for something else. Kiba, Shino and Hinata you three come with me so I can write down your report about the fight. Naruto you stay here with Anko. She will take care of you." Kurenai invented something so she could give Anko some private time with Naruto. Anko smiled at her and nodded her thanks. After everyone left Anko and Naruto sat down with Naruto wondering why she needed him to write this report since they fought together the whole time. But he wasn't about to say no when he could spent some time alone with Anko. He truly liked her a lot and hoped that maybe one day she would like him back.

Anko was getting really nervous about all of this, she had never done this before and she was terrified to make a big mistake. Why was this so hard so wondered. She sat down and told him to do the same so he sat in front of her waiting for her to start on this report thingy.

"Naruto, I need to tell you something but I'm very nervous about this so please don't interrupt me." Anko said. Seeing him nod she continued.

"Naruto, the past six months have been the best time of my entire life. I met you, a young boy in need of a sensei and I saw myself in you. Lost and lonely trying to find acceptance by those who disliked you for no reason. I can honestly say that the decision to be your sensei was the best decision I have ever made in my life. The time we spent training in the forest was amazing, you were amazing. Every time you managed to surprise me or exceed my every expectation. I was and still am really proud of you. You were my first student and you proved to be the best student there could ever be. You respected me, you listened to my boring lectures with every bit of concentration you had, it made me really happy that you actually respected me as your teacher." Anko said before taking a deep breath.

"But along the way something happened, I became so attached to you. First as a student and then as a friend. You understood more than anyone what I had went through and I understood you. It made me incredibly happy that we could talk about our painful pasts. When you called me 'Anko-chan' for the first time I thought my heart was going to explode from happiness and when you called me your precious person I almost lost it.

Then when you fought Zabuza for the first time and that clone got hit I thought I would die. I never felt so bad in my whole life. The thought of losing you was unbearable. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really like you. No what I'm trying to say is that I love you with everything I got, hoping that you love me too." Anko said hoping not to get hurt by being rejected by the young man she loves.

Naruto was stunned. Anko told him she loved him. She loved him like he loved her. He couldn't believe it, he was so happy that he was about to faint from happiness. But instead he just got up and walked over to Anko and gently cupped her face with both hands. He raised her head so he could look into her eyes.

"I love you too Anko-chan" was all he said before kissing her with all the love he had for this beautiful women before him.

Anko felt Naruto's hands cup her face and raising her head so they would look into each other's eyes. She was lost in his beautiful blue eyes and she knew she could stare at them forever. Then she heard him say 'I love you too Anko-chan'. Her heart stopped, did she hear that correctly? He really loved her? All her questions and every other thoughts for that matter disappeared into nothingness as he kissed her. Not just a peck on the lips but a true kiss. A kiss between lovers, between two people who loved each other more than anything in the world. She put her arms around him and melted into his embrace enjoying every second of it not wanting it to end.

When their lips separated they smiled and held on to each other for dear life. They both needed to know this was real and not some kind of dream. They had finally found what both had been looking for years. They had found that special person who they could love and who would love them back, a special person that even when the whole world turned against you, would stand next to you supporting you every step of the way no matter what the odds. They finally had found someplace they belonged and they belonged to each other.

The just sat down holding each other enjoying the feeling of love and acceptance both felt. After a while Anko had snuggled into his chest while Naruto had rested his chin on her head enjoying how she melted into his body. They would need to get back soon but for now they were alone in the world.

Kurenai had lead the three genin back to the house thinking how she would explain this if someone asked about Anko and Naruto. She really didn't want to say something that she shouldn't, who knows what would happen. Unfortunately for her, the three remaining genin had noticed that she was worried about something. Hinata with her new found confidence decided that she wanted to know what was going on.

"Kurenai-sensei, is everything alright with Naruto-kun and Anko-sensei?" Hinata said with a strong voice.

"Euh, whatever do you mean Hinata? There's nothing wrong with them, I assure you." Kurenai tried to evade the question.

"I think Hinata wants to know if Naruto and Anko-sensei are going to confess to each other?" Shino said in his typical no nonsense voice.

Kurenai was caught and she knew it. No way could she escape from this question. Seeing no other way she told them that Anko had broken down that morning and that she was having a really difficult time these last few months. Without revealing to much she explained that for Naruto and Anko love was something new and really complicated. She asked that they wouldn't tell anyone what they had learned here so that Naruto and Anko wouldn't get in trouble. The three of them quickly promised to protect the secret and not to tell anyone. Naruto was their teammate and their friend, Anko was their second sensei and they loved and respected both of them.

A few hours later Anko and Naruto came back walking hand in hand each with a smile on their face. Everybody present cheered for them and congratulated them. Their friends were truly happy for both of them and Anko and Naruto couldn't be happier knowing that their friends supported them. Since it was already late they decided to go to bed but not before Naruto told his teammates that he had to talk to them in the morning. His teammates nodded saying they would be there. With that everyone went to bed. Anko gave Naruto one last kiss before she went inside her room no doubt about to be questioned about Naruto.

When Naruto woke up the next morning he felt really nervous. He had decided to tell his friend the truth about the Kyuubi and his parents. Last night he had talked about it with Anko.

_Flashback_

"_Anko-chan, do you think it would be a bad idea to tell the rest about Kyuubi and my parents?"Naruto asked softly._

"_I don't know Naruto-kun. I truly believe that they are your friends no matter what. They believe in you and know you would do anything for them. Maybe you should tell them. I would show them how much you trust them." Anko replied keeping him in a tight hug._

" _Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. They deserve to know the truth but I'm still a little afraid of how they might react. I mean Kyuubi did kill a lot of people and there are certainly going to be family members of them amongst those people." Naruto said showing how much he worried about telling them._

"_I'm sure everything will be fine. I'll be there right next to you. Don't worry." Anko promised and she kissed him lovingly._

_End flashback_

When everyone had woken up and eaten breakfast Team 8 went outside to talk. Kiba, Hinata and Shino were really curious about the things Naruto wanted to tell them. They could see how nervous he was about telling them. Anko had to reassure him five times otherwise he probably would have chickened out. When they arrived at the clearing Naruto told them to sat down and get comfortable because they were in for a long story.

"Before I start you guys need to know that everything I tell you now is a classified S-rank secret. You can't tell anyone you know about this. If you do you will get arrested and executed. If you don't want to take this risk I'll understand no hard feelings." Naruto said seriously. He wanted them to understand the dangers of knowing this. Seeing none of them left he proceeded to tell the story of how Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside him saving the entire village. He told him about how he was hated by the adults for carrying the Kyuubi and because they thought he was the Kyuubi reborn. He told them how Mizuki had tricked him into stealing that scroll and how he told him about the Kyuubi. He then told them about his parents and how his dad was Namikaze Minato, Forth Hokage of the Leaf and about his mom Uzumaki Kushina. He told them about the scroll he received from his dad and the techniques he had learned. When he was done nobody said a word. Naruto was beginning to panic and worry that they would hate him as well. But he didn't need to worry.

"Naruto, this is unbelievable. I don't know what to say but I will say this. It's an honor to be the teammate and friend of the person who saved Konoha all those years ago. Your dad was right, you're a hero amongst hero's and I'm proud to be called your friend. I promise you that I will never see you as Kyuubi, you are Uzumaki Naruto shinobi of the Leaf and member of Team 8. I thank you for telling me your secret. I swear on my life and pride as an Inuzaka that I will never betray you or your precious people." Kiba said holding out his hand to Naruto. Naruto grabbed on to it as a lifeline.

Hinata and Shino agreed with Kiba's words and on their turn swore never to betray Naruto and his precious people. Naruto was their friend and teammate and nothing would change that not even the Kyuubi.

Naruto was holding back tears when he heard Kiba's, Shino's and Hinata's words, he grabbed them into a hug thanking them for not hating him. He told them that he was very glad and proud to be called a friend by such fantastic people. Anko as well thanked them for not hating her Naruto-kun and gave each of them a hug and a kiss. Kurenai for her part had never been so proud of her students and told them exactly that. She also told Naruto that the secret of his family was safe with her and that she was very proud to be a sensei of such an outstanding shinobi. Naruto was truly happy, the woman he loved so much loved him as well and his friend accepted him even knowing about the Kyuubi. This was one of the happiest days of his life.

Kurenai had also taken her students apart for to talk about their first kill, she knew that a first kill was a important milestone in a shinobi's career. Shino and Kiba had responded fairly well once they got over the shock and thanks to Kurenai's talk they accepted the fact that killing was an aspect of being a shinobi so Kurenai was certain that they would be alright. Hinata however had been taking it very badly, it took a day or two before she truly realized what she had done and Kurenai, Anko and even Naruto had to help her through the small depression she was getting in. In the end she too understood the necessity of killing and thanks to her teammates she was slowly but surely getting better and by the end of the week she was back to normal.

A week later Team 8 finally prepared to go back home. The bridge had been completed and already things had started to change for the better for the people of the Wave. Naruto couldn't be more happy for the people. They had suffered a lot because of Gato and his dirty businesses but now it seemed everything would be alright. It would take a while but Wave would become a true home for many people. Team 8 were seen as hero's by the people and everybody thanked them and telling them that they would always be welcome to come over and stay. When Naruto and the rest said their goodbyes to Tazuna and his family Inari thanked Naruto for showing him how to fight for those he loved. He promised to never forget about the things he taught him.

"Inari, you did well back there when your mum was in danger. You tried to fight for those you love. I'm very proud of you."Naruto said to Inari.

"Thanks Naruto-nichan. I finally realized that you were right all along. I'm sorry it took me so long to see how wrong I was." Inari said while keeping his head down.

"That doesn't matter anymore Inari. You did the right thing when it mattered. Forget what I said about your dad being disappointed in you. I'm sure that wherever he is, he's very proud of you." Naruto said while holding Inari by the shoulders.

"Thank Naruto-nichan. I'll never forget the things you have taught me. I'll protect this village and my precious people just like you do." Inari said looking Naruto in the eyes.

"That's all I can ask of you Inari. Good luck and be strong." Naruto said while turning around ready to leave the Wave.

Tazuna promised that when the wave had recovered enough they would pay the remaining money for the mission. They said goodbye and started their journey back to Konoha knowing that they had made some good friends and had a place where they would always be welcome. Naruto didn't know it at that time, but Wave was the place where his legend started and would be remembered for years to come.

After several days of traveling Team 8 reached the gates of Konoha. For the most part everybody was happy to be back but Naruto and Anko were kind of sad since they would have to hide their relationship until he made Chuunin. They didn't want to but it was the only way for them to avoid problems none of them needed at that time. Since it was early in the day they would first give their report to the Hokage so that he was aware of what had happened.

Sandaime sat in his chair reading over some of the preparation of the Chuunin exams that would be held in four months. He frowned when he thought about the exams, he had a bad feeling about it and most of the time his feeling were right. He would have to make sure everything was in order if he would have to fight for Konoha and his precious people. He also would have to make sure that all his personal affairs were in order in case of his death. Though he hoped to live and see the day Naruto become Hokage he was realistic and knew that this probably wouldn't be the case.

When he heard a knock on the door he quickly stopped this line of thoughts and called the person in. When he saw Team 8 enter his office, he smiled wondering what kind of adventure they had to tell. After wishing them welcome back he told them to give him their mission report and to leave nothing out while calmly puffing his pipe. When an hour later they had told the whole mission Sandaime's pipe lay forgotten on his desk. He was amazed at their story, never would he have thought that they would have to deal with such an opponent. That they had managed to defeat him without any serious injury or death spoke volumes on how strong the genin had gotten.

When Naruto pulled out the scrolls which held the body's of the demon brothers, Zabuza and Haku he was told that his Ji-chan himself would take care of it and deliver them the money later today in person. Naruto demanded that the money would be split evenly amongst them since they were a team and everyone of them had helped defeat Zabuza and his men.

Sandaime said that they had the rest of the week of to recover from their mission but they said it was okay since they had a week to recover while waiting for the bridge to be completed. He insisted that they would take the next day off.

"Naruto, can you and Anko come see me tomorrow? I would very much like to see these techniques you have made." Sandaime said.

"Sure thing Jichan but on one condition. We eat ramen tonight and you're paying." Naruto said shocking Kurenai and the rest of the genin for trying to blackmail the Hokage.

"You got yourself a deal." Sandaime said laughing at Naruto's attempt to get free ramen.

* * *

Well, this concludes chapter 11 of 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'

I hope you liked it, it was a very emotional chapter to read and to write. I tried to make Anko's and Kurenai's conversation believable although I fear that I went a little too far ? I know how people say that my Anko is way different than cannon in earlier chapters and I'm a bit afraid I just went over the line but we shall see when you guys comment.

I also thought it would be a good idea for Naruto to tell his teammates about the Kyuubi and his parents. Trust is important and keeping secrets no matter how big or important could destroy a team, also I wanted to show that Naruto and Team 8 are not only teammates but also friends.

Next chapter will be released on Sunday 13th of April.

'Chapter 12: Training for the Chuunin exams'

See you then.


	12. Chapter 12: Training for the Exams

I don't own Naruto. If I did Itachi would still be this badass and super cool villain instead of the self sacrificing, protecting older brother Kishimoto now makes him.

Thanks again to all the people who reviewed.

Question: Does anybody else feels like Kishimoto is slowly but surely destroying his own work by using cliché themes? Ever since the first chapters Itachi is believed to be a mass murderer, villain and all around bad guy but all of the sudden Kishimoto feels it's necessary to make him into a good guy (not sure but it seems that way for now) who did everything to protect Konoha and Sasuke?

I'm starting to feel a little disillusioned at his work. Don't get me wrong I still like the manga and the story but he better have a very good explanation for this.

On the other side: I wonder how Sasuke well react when he hears that Itachi did everything for him and that he now killed his own brother. If he wasn't a bit touched in the head before he will surely be now.

Oh, and what about the fact that Sasuke received every Sharingan eye jutsu from Itachi. Way to go Kishimoto.

Ah well, guess we will have to wait and see what happens, won't we? Anyway here is Chapter 12 of my story, I hope you guys like it. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 12: Training for the Chuunin exams

Naruto had spent a great day with his Ji-chan and Anko. They had started the day by meeting early in the morning so that Naruto could show him his first three Kenjutsu techniques. When Sarutobi saw the damage they caused he hoped that he would never have to face Naruto in a Kenjutsu fight. When Anko told him that those techniques had broken Zabuza's sword he gulped since most shinobi knew about the legendary swords of the Mist. Being able to break such a sword would take devastating power and not many shinobi had such strength. Once again Naruto had succeeded in surprising him. When he saw Naruto's final Kenjutsu technique he actually felt pity for the bastard who pissed Naruto off enough so he would use this technique.

Though Naruto showed Sandaime his Kenjutsu techniques he didn't tell about his mastery of the Rasengan. He would show it to him during the Chuunin exams. He knew that would really surprise him. After talking and laughing about several small things Anko and Naruto told Sandaime about their relationship.

"Jichan, there's something that Anko and I want you to know. But you have to keep it a secret okay?" Naruto said.

"No problem Naruto as long it isn't something that could hurt the both of you or the village your secret is safe with me." Sandaime said wondering what two of his favorite people had to say.

"The fact is that Anko and I are more than just student and teacher or just friends." Naruto tried to explain.

"Naruto, are you trying to tell me that you and Anko are together as a couple?" Sandaime said while a small smile formed on his old and wrinkled face.

"That's what he's trying to say Hokage-sama." Anko said helping out her boyfriend a little. Naruto nodded slightly blushing.

"Really? When did this happen?" Sandaime said before he hugged and congratulated both of them.

Anko and Naruto then told him how they got together after the match with Zabuza and how they decided to keep their relationship a secret until Naruto made chuunin. Sandaime nodded understanding their need for the secret and told them that their secret was safe with him and then he asked if he was invited for the wedding. Anko asked him if he would give her the honor of giving her away when the time came. Sandaime accepted with tears in his eyes saying that the honor would be all his. After this wonderful news they made their way to Hideki-san Naruto wanting some new stuff and he also wanted to show the sword he made. He had promised to show it to him and hadn't done so yet so now was the perfect moment.

Hideki greeted them good morning saying how glad he was to receive such good company. He was glad to see Naruto and Anko again, the two of them had grown on him and he considered both of them good friends. Naruto started by showing him his sword and explaining how his sheath worked without giving the details of the seal. Hideki was truly amazed at the beauty of the sword, it was perfect in every way. He told Naruto and the rest to watch to store for a few minutes and ran off. A few minutes later he came back accompanied by a older man. He introduced the man as Miyamoto Musashi and he was a very famous sword maker known throughout the world. He also told that this was the man who had sold his high quality metal to him which he gave to Naruto.

Naruto introduced himself and Anko and thanked him for the fantastic metal. Musashi said that it was quite all right and that he was happy that a youngster as himself was interested in weapon forging. Hideki then showed him the sword and Musashi inspected it with a eye of a master. When he gave back the sword he told Naruto that he had made a truly amazing sword and that he could tell it would never disappoint its maker. Naruto thanked him for his kind words and sheathed his sword, when Musashi saw how the blade disappeared he was astonished at how Naruto had done that.

After leaving Hideki and Musashi the trio went to see Iruka at the academy since the new school year had already started some months ago. They arrived just a little for lunch and Iruka dismissed the students early telling them to be back tomorrow for target practice. They raced outside not even hearing Iruka or paying attention to him. He sighed, being a academy teacher did have his downsides. But he cheered up, happy that he could spend some time with Naruto. He had changed so much since graduating he hardly recognized him anymore. They spend the afternoon talking and when they told him about the mission in Wave he almost fainted when Anko told him he had defeated Momochi Zabuza. Though Naruto said he couldn't have won without her. She had to restrain herself or she would had kissed him there and then. But they had agreed to only tell Sandaime.

They went back home in the early evening tired but having spent a wonderful day they didn't care. Arriving at Anko apartment, they greeted one of her neighbors who wished them a nice evening. Since the people who lived here were all shinobi none of them had a problem with Naruto and already knew that he stayed with Anko because of the problems with some villagers. When Naruto shut the door behind him he was grabbed by his collar and pulled into Anko's lips. He happily kissed her back. She told him that she had been wanting to do that for hours. Since they had team training the next day a they went to bed early. After a goodnight kiss both of them went to their bedroom. They didn't want to rush into things neither of them was ready for so they decided to sleep separately for the time being. This was fine for both of them.

The next morning they met with the rest of Team 8 to discuss their training for the next few months leading up to the chuunin exams. They would only take 2 missions a week and concentrate on their training. They had several area's they had to cover so they would be busy enough without missions. Kurenai had asked them to write down what they wanted to learn for the next months. They each had to write down a goal they wanted to achieve. They would review it together and make up a training schedule.

"Alright Hinata why don't you start? What have you written down as your goals for the next few months?" Kurenai asked.

"Yes sensei, I have decided that I would like to learn at least 5 basic level medical ninjutsu so that in case of emergency I would be able to help my teammates. Next to those 5 jutsu I would request Naruto-kun's help in developing my new taijutsu style." Hinata said.

"Very good Hinata that's a good goal. I'm sure we'll help where we can. Alright Kiba what about you?" Kurenai asked.

"I would like to learn several new jutsu outside my family jutsu's. I thought it over and I definitely see the advantage in knowing some other jutsu. Also Akamaru and I will learn a new family jutsu from my sister." Kiba said.

"Good good, there's defiantly a plus side to knowing jutsu. Alright Shino what have you decided?" Kurenai said addressing Shino.

"With the help of my father I will start a new colony that will allow me to improve my currents techniques but since starting a colony requires a constant supervision so I regret to inform you that I will not to be able to join for the first two months of training. I will join after the new colony has stabilized enough." Shino said calmly.

"Very well Shino, you will be missed these months but we know that you'll be much stronger when you return. We wish you all the good luck you need. Finally Naruto, what are your goals?" Kurenai said.

"Well sensei, I selected to start creating some new ninjutsu and improve my Kenjutsu." Naruto announced.

"Good job everyone. Anko and I expect that you work hard at achieving this goal. When you need our help call us and we'll do what we can." Kurenai said finishing that part of the meeting.

Next they talked about the normal team training that will take place every morning from 6 am till 11h30 am. During this training they will focus sparring matches, team exercises and the likes. The afternoon would be individual training though they would meet together so they would be able to help each other if necessary. After each month they would review their goals and see if how far they had succeeded in achieving them.

* * *

On the other side of town a certain Hatake Kakashi was in a very good mood. The newest tome of 'Icha Icha Paradise' was out in stores and he had been able to preorder a copy. Today was going to be a good day he could feel it. He made his way over to the adult bookstore barely able to restrain himself from giggling. When he left the bookstore while reading his new book he vaguely remembered something about training his team this morning but he was fairly sure he had given them the day of. So he went home and started reading his book.

Team 7 however, consisting out of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and one guy nobody seemed to know were waiting for their sensei. Today was supposed be team training but their sensei was already three hours late. Giving up Sasuke told the pink one that he was going home since Kakashi obviously wasn't coming. Said pink one immediately started asking him out on a date which was refused before she had finished her question. The nameless one nodded and went home as well.

Sasuke was raving mad. This was an outrage in his opinion. He had been the rookie of the year, genius of the Uchiha clan (of course if you're the only remaining member it was easy to be called a genius) and all he had been doing was idiotic missions. Sure he had awakened his Sharingan during one of those missions but all in all they were boring and useless. That such missions were about learning teamwork and promoting friendship amongst the team escaped the young Uchiha completely. He thought his teammates were only slowing him down and Kakashi was as useless as could be. The man was considered a genius shinobi but so far Sasuke thought he was a joke. He was always late, lazy as hell and read those orange books for perverts so he was not exactly a prime example of a competent teacher.

He walked through town searching for something to occupy him since he had nothing to do anyway. Suddenly he thought he recognized a familiar blond haired idiot from the academy and a grin appeared on his face. Nothing better to improve your own self-esteem by putting someone else down. He would enjoy this he thought. Making his way over he saw that said blonde was accompanied by Kiba (dogboy) and Hinata (crybaby) and a girl he didn't know.

"Well well, if it isn't the village idiot, dogboy and crybaby long time no see. How's the academy loser? Have you passed yet?" Sasuke sneered at them.

Naruto and the gang turned around and faced Sasuke who kept on smiling. They heard the name calling but decided to ignore it. They would be the better man so to speak.

"Ah, if it isn't Uchiha Sasuke. How have you been Sasuke? I've been doing great thank you for asking."Naruto said. Kiba, Hinata and Anko smiled at Naruto's way of irritating Sasuke.

"Whatever loser, what are you doing here anyway? This is a shinobi only store." Sasuke said trying to embarrass Naruto.

"I know this is a shinobi store that's why I'm here since I'm a shinobi. Can't you see my headband? For a so called genius you sure ask stupid questions." Naruto answered with a smile on his face.

Most of the shinobi present in the store started snickering at Naruto's remark. It was funny because the Uchiha were supposed to have the best eyes. Not noticing Naruto's headband was huge embarrassment for Sasuke. To make matters worse Sakura appeared out of nowhere and started asking Sasuke out again. Sasuke who felt bad enough about not having seen the headband around Naruto's forehead pushed Sakura of him and turned back to Naruto.

"So, how did you get that headband? I know you didn't graduate with us. Received any special treatment?" Sasuke said.

"No Sasuke, I didn't get any special treatment of any sort. The truth is that I kicked Mizuki's ass when he tried to betray the village and steal a forbidden scroll. Since I defeated a chuunin level shinobi I was allowed to pass and become a genin. " Naruto said in an even voice showing that he wasn't trying to show off. He was just stating the truth.

"Yeah right loser, like you could defeat a chuunin. No way I'm believing that." Sasuke called out.

"Believe what you will Sasuke. I'm fine with you not believing me I don't care. Well, got to go. Places to see, people to meet. See you later Sasuke, Sakura." Naruto said while following Anko and the rest out of the store.

Sakura who had been quiet since Sasuke had thrown her of his back only now recognized the blond guy Sasuke had been talking to. Not being positive it was him, she decided to ask Sasuke about it.

"Was that Naruto?" she said to her crush.

"Hnnn." Was the only reply she received before he left the store in search for something else to do. Inside he was fuming. What if what Naruto had said was true? What if he really defeated Mizuki like he said? He was sure that he could defeat a chuunin level shinobi, he was an Uchiha after all. But the fact that Naruto, the biggest loser in the history of the academy (in his eyes anyway), had been able to defeat a chuunin meant that he had become very strong in a very short period of time. No way would he allow the clown of the class to surpass him, he would have to force Kakashi into training him seriously.

Two weeks later Naruto had been working on one of his new jutsu when Anko arrived after having to meet Sandaime. She looked a little bit troubled and when Naruto asked if she was okay she told him that she was asked to supervise the second part of the chuunin exam. The Hokage had also forbidden her to tell anything more than that to insure fair play. So she couldn't tell anything about it, Naruto nodded saying that he understood and he found it to be logical that she couldn't tell them anything. Besides he didn't want to cheat anyway.

"So what are you working on? Anko asked interested in what her boyfriend was doing.

"Well, I'm working on a new Katon jutsu but something's been bothering me ever since we met Sasuke two weeks ago. The fact that those with the Sharingan could copy the jutsu I make bothers me." Naruto admitted.

"Yes, I can understand that. It's not really fair for such an ability to exits. But you have the Kage Bunshin you can use to learn." Anko said.

"No, that's not what I mean. I don't have a problem with people learning the jutsu I made. Well, some of the jutsu I made. There are several of then I want to keep secret. I don't mind people knowing my jutsu because they would have to learn it, they would have to practice and work for it. The Sharingan however just copy's it and that's it. No effort what so ever. That's what bothers me the most." Naruto explained his views.

Anko nodded understanding what Naruto meant. For a lot of shinobi learning a new jutsu takes effort and training but for the Uchiha who activated their Sharingan it becomes child play to learn and remember new jutsu. Unfortunately there wasn't much that could be done to prevent the Sharingan from copying, it truly was a very useful tool for a shinobi to have.

"I talked to Ji-chan about it and even he doesn't know a way to counter the copying of jutsu but he did say something interesting, he said that copying jutsu with handseals was easy because they have a visual aid then but jutsu like the Rasengan would be very difficult since they don't use handseals. I believe this is the way to counter the Sharingan." Naruto explained.

Anko thought about it and it seemed a very reasonable theory. Jutsu like Rasengan are chakra manipulation which takes practice no matter what. Chakra control and manipulation can't be copied it's learned so that might be a very good way to work around the Sharingan. So when Naruto told her that from this point on his future family jutsu would be jutsu based on chakra control and manipulation she smiled and said that this was an excellent idea.

"So, what is that Katon jutsu you have been working on? Anko said trying to get Naruto to show her. He had this incredible stubborn streak that he wouldn't say or show anything until it was ready, not only jutsu but everything. It drove her insane, being the curious person she is. She hated waiting and he knew it. 'That's why he does it' she thought 'he likes to torment me that way.'

"Now Anko-chan you know that I won't show it until its ready. Just a little longer and you'll be the first to see I promise." Naruto said knowing it would drive her up the wall.

Three weeks into the second month Hinata had learned three of the five medical jutsu that she wanted to learn. She would now be able to help her teammates if they were hurt and it made her really feel good that she had learned such a difficult area of jutsu. For medical jutsu's you needed excellent chakra control and this was something she was good at. All Hyuuga were good at chakra control because of their Taijutsu style the Jyuken.

Speaking of Taijutsu, with the help of Naruto (and the rest) she had started on her own version of the Jyuken. It wasn't even near to anything resembling a new style but she had made some excellent progress in her eyes. She always found the normal Jyuken to be very stiff and boring, she wanted a style both graceful and powerful. That's why for now she focused on making her body as flexible as it possible could be. This would allow her to do movements that normal people wouldn't be able to do giving her an advantage. She would have to work hard on it but she was willing to go all the way to achieve her goal.

She still had to practice the normal Jyuken with her father and little sister but unlike before Hinata give it her all during those sparring matches and Hanabi had lost several times to her which made Hanabi really mad saying that she cheated and that there was no way that Hinata would have won without cheating. Hinata however told her that she didn't cheat and if Hanabi couldn't take a simple loss from her sister she still had a lot to learn. Because there were people out there who were many times stronger than her. Her father had been impressed but didn't say anything to his daughter.

Kiba and Akamaru had been training with Kiba's sister Hana learning a new Inuzuka family jutsu and it proved to be a really hard one to learn. But they were certain that they could master it before the Chuunin exams. Kiba had made good progress with his Taijutsu and Ninjutsu learning as well. Thank to the everyday spars he had with Hinata and Naruto he had learned a lot. The ninjutsu part had been going good as well thanks to Anko. She had taught him another Katon jutsu and he was now learning a new Suiton jutsu.

Today Naruto would show Anko his new Jutsu's he had made this month. She could hardly wait to see them, because judging on Naruto's face they would be fairly impressive. She could read him well by now. Their relationship was still a secret but everything was going very well between them. They still hadn't done more than kissing but neither of them made any move to go beyond that for the time being. Still they found it very hard sometimes not to get carried away and made a promise to not cross that line for at least another month.

Arriving at the training ground Kurenai saw that everyone was already there and ready to get started. She couldn't help but be very proud of her team. They had taking training very seriously after the wave incident and the result showed. They were getting stronger by the day and stop herself from boasting to the other Jounin sensei about her team. She refrained from it because her team would face the other team's in the Chuunin exam and she didn't want to give away any surprises. But when her team would beat the snot out of them she and Anko wouldn't refrain from shoving it into their faces. Oh she could hardly wait. She could already see the faces of Kakashi and Gai when their teams would get their ass handed to them. Priceless.

"Good morning everyone. Now today we will focus on teamwork and communication. A good team has their own way of communication with gestures or sign language. This is very useful during fights or infiltration where giving out commands by voice aren't possible. So I want you three to start on that. In a week or two Shino will be back and then the four of you can create your own language." Anko said informing the three what they would be doing today.

"And I believe that Naruto here will show us two of the three jutsu's he created." Anko continued showing impatience at the jutsu showing part.

Naruto chuckled at his girlfriends impatience and told them that he would show at the end of the day. Anko not wanting to wait that long ordered him to do it now so that part would be over trying to cover up her impatience. All of them laughed at her excuse.

"Fine. The first jutsu I made is a Katon jutsu. It's called 'Katon: Ryusei Haretsu No Jutsu'. The second one is a Suiton jutsu called 'Suiton: Dekishi Dama No Jutsu'. Let me show them to you."Naruto said explaining a little about his jutsu's. He backed up a little and started doing handseals and said 'Katon: Ryusei Haretsu No Jutsu'. He brought his hand to his mouth and exhaled dozens of small balls of fire. It seemed like the 'Katon: Housenka No Jutsu' but there were a lot more fireballs and they were much smaller. But the real difference was when the tiny balls hit the ground they exploded with a loud bang. When the dust cleared you could literally follow the path of destruction the jutsu had made. For such tiny balls they sure packed a lot of punch.

"This was the first one. As you saw it makes a lot of fireballs and they explode on impact." Naruto said. His audience looked at the destroyed plain now filled with holes. Once again Naruto had made a very impressive technique. Before they could comment on it Naruto asked for a volunteer for the Suiton jutsu. When nobody stepped up he made a Kage Bunshin and said he would demonstrate with the clone.

"Suiton: Dekishi Dama No Jutsu" he yelled and performed the jutsu on the clone. Anko and the rest saw how a round sphere made of water materialized around the Bunshins head. Naruto explained that the jutsu would place the opponents head into a small reservoir of water and drown him. He told him that he could hold the sphere for up to ten minutes without even trying. Ten minutes was largely enough for someone to drown. He said that it could be used for assassination but its main purpose was to distract the opponent. Having to hold your breath and the natural panic that came with drowning was more than enough to successfully occupy the opponent long enough to terminate him. The downside of the jutsu was that to execute it you needed a source of water at your disposal.

Anko liked the Suiton jutsu immediately, it was a very well thought-out piece of work. Like Naruto said it put a huge stress on the victims psychological well being and she could see the use of the jutsu during interrogations. Panic and stress broke just as much people as psychical pain. She would ask Naruto to teach it to her later.

Kurenai, Hinata and Kiba were impressed by the jutsu Naruto had come up with but they weren't really surprised anymore. They had seen how he defeated Zabuza with his Kenjutsu techniques he had created so they knew Naruto had a certain talent to create awesome jutsu's. So after congratulating him they started on their sign language.

It was now a week before the start of the chuunin exams and people were getting stressed, especially Anko. Since she was ordered to design the second part of the exam she knew what Naruto and the rest would have to go through and it worried her. Chuunin exams weren't exactly safe, people always got killed during these kind of events. She knew that Team 8 would have to face a lot of strong opponents if they wanted to pass the exams. It wasn't that she didn't have in faith in the teams capabilities, far from it she knew how strong they were. They had trained for the exams for almost four months and they had made a lot of progress. She looked over to where the 3 were discussing something about preparations for the exam.

Especially Hinata had made excellent progress not only in her Taijutsu but she had changed her attitude and personality completely. She still was the gentle and caring girl as she always was but if you hurt her or one of her friends she would transform into a determined and strong kunoichi who didn't take crap from anyone.

Sakura had experienced this in person after she insulted Naruto when they had met during a festival last month. Sakura started calling Naruto names after he had said something about Sasuke being an ass (which was completely true by the way) and while Naruto ignored the pink haired kunoichi, Hinata had retaliated by saying that Sakura was nothing more than a deluded fangirl who would get herself killed the minute she entered the battlefield. When Sakura answered that her Sasuke-kun would save her if that happened Hinata had said that she pitied Sakura for not seeing the truth about Sasuke and walked away.

Hinata had started on her own version of the Jyuken and had already created several kata's with the help of her team. Her style was a very graceful style, it looked like she was dancing but it proved to be just perfect for her. She was getting very good at it but it still needed lot of practice and modification before she could call it finished. Her style focused on sealing tenketsu and hitting pressure points on the body. Sealing tenketsu would stop them from using chakra and hitting the pressure points would prevent them from using the limb. One of those attacks alone is enough to immobilize someone but both of them at the same time was devastatingly painful and useful. Naruto and the rest thought that Hinata's Taijutsu looked like a beautiful but deadly dance.

Her clothing style had changed after Anko and Kurenai had told her that she shouldn't hide her attractive body behind that thick vest. Hinata at first refused to go shopping but changed her mind after hearing that Kiba might show a little more interest in her if she would wear something stylish but sexy. Hinata blushed at the thought what kind of clothes Anko and Kurenai would give her but she had to admit that she liked feeling beautiful and sexy. She now wore a long black pants that fitted very nicely and showed how long her legs were and had take boots, that like Naruto had a steel tip protecting her toes. She got rid of her vest and bought a long sleeved fishnet undershirt and a dark sleeveless shirt to wear on top of that. She also started wearing her headband on her forehead instead of around her neck showing that she was a true kunoichi. Kiba had certainly been showing more interest in Hinata after that.

Kiba had learned a lot during the past few months and he had gotten a little more mature as well. He was still loud and impulsive once in a while but when it mattered he was calm and collective. He had learned several new jutsu and had even learned to do a very special combination jutsu with Akamaru. Although he hadn't spend much time on his normal Taijutsu he worked very hard on his family jutsu with Akamaru. Together they were a force to be reckoned with. He too had changed his clothing style, instead of a blue vest he now wore a dark blue sleeveless hoodie which allowed him to carry Akamaru on his back. He wore gloves just like Naruto but his were fingerless because he grew claws when using his family jutsu's.

Shino had changed the least. That was only on the exterior though, on the inside Shino had changed a lot. First there was the fact that he now had a new colony of bugs that he could use, then there was the fact that he become a lot more open to his teammates than ever before. Spending time with them had opened him up so now and then he would tell a small joke or something that he saw or heard. His training with the team did suffer a little because he had lot of training with his clan but they had managed to make a perfect sign language for them to use during battle. He had also learned some jutsu from Anko in order to become a well-rounded shinobi.

Naruto had grown a little taller and had lost a lot of baby fat in his face and body. He looked just like his father, frankly it surprised him that nobody in the village had noticed the resemblance between them. Then again, maybe they didn't want to see it he thought. His training had been a great success in his own opinion. Three weeks ago he had succeeded in making a variation on the Rasengan which make it a lot more powerful and he also made excellent progress in the Hiraishin as well. He was close to finishing the seals for the Hiraishin, all he had to do now as find out the correct pattern to put them in. This would have to wait until after the exams he thought. He had invented several new jutsu as well and he was really proud of them. His Kenjutsu had improved very much and he even mastered his Kenjutsu techniques enough to do them with one of his throwing knives. That proved to be very useful and he now was very proficient at fighting with knives. He had also made a special holster like his own for his teammates and a special belt that held several storage seals ready to be used.

Since there were only a week left before the exam the team had been told to rest up for the rest of the time and only do the team training and a light training schedule for the rest of the time. They wanted to be in the best condition they could possibly be so rest was required. During the time they were free they would discuss tactics, strategy and make preparations for the exam.

Anko looked at Naruto and a small smile appeared on her face. They had been a couple for several months now and she couldn't be more happier about it. Naruto was everything she wanted in a friend, lover and future husband she realized. He was sweet, caring and he respected her above everything else. Sure they had some disagreements every once in a while but that was normal in every relationship she had been told. In a way she was glad that Naruto would stand up for himself once in a while, generally he agreed with everything but sometimes he would be stubborn and not willing to give in and she liked it. It proved that he was comfortable enough around her to be himself.

She blushed as she remembered the first time they had made love a few weeks ago. While they were both virgins it was a fantastic experience and they enjoyed it very much. She was really nervous and had asked Kurenai about some tips but she told her that discovering those things with Naruto would be much more fun and enjoyable. They were both very nervous but once they started kissing it was like their body's took control and everything went perfect. Naruto had been shocked into silence when he saw her naked for the first time and she was just as pleasantly surprised with Naruto. She thought he was gorgeous and she couldn't believe that she was the one he loved. They had made love several times since then and they enjoyed it every time. Every time they would learn how to please the person they loved and it drove them wild to see the other enjoying everything they did.

"Alright guys, that enough for today. Good job. Tomorrow is your day off so I want you guys to rest well. No training am I clear? Tomorrow night we'll all have dinner together, so I want us to meet at eight. You will have to wear appropriate clothes so please remember that. See you guys tomorrow night." Kurenai said dismissing everyone.

"A dress? Kurenai, you want me to wear a dress? You know how much I hate wearing those things." Anko said complaining to Kurenai.

"Yes Anko a dress. You will wear one or else. I'm sure Naruto would enjoy seeing you in a beautiful dress. Besides it will be fun." Kurenai said ignoring the glare Anko gave her.

"Fine, I'll wear the stupid dress but I won't like it." Anko said while leaving with a pout on her face.

* * *

This concludes chapter 12.

It's mostly an introduction to the Chuunin exam so not a lot of action I'm afraid. I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter, but it's a lot better than the first version I had. I decided to put several months between the mission to the Wave and the exam so that Naruto and the rest would have time to train and get stronger. That way it would be more believable and they wouldn't be strong out of the blue.

I hope you enjoyed the interaction between Sasuke, Sakura and Team 8. Don't worry from here on Team 8 and the rest of the rookies will see each other more frequently and there will be a lot more interaction.

Well the next chapter 'Confrontations and Oh no a written test?" will be released on Sunday 20th of April. See you then.


	13. Chapter 13: Confrontations and Oh No

I don't own Naruto.

Hey everyone, thanks again for all the reviews. I learn a lot from them so keep them coming.

How is everybody doing? For me unfortunately exams are coming up so I really must start preparing and studying for them. I hate exams, I really do but these are some of the last I ever have to do (hopefully) so better make sure I pass them. Bad news is that studying will take a lot of time which means that I have less time to write. But no worries the updates will keep on coming, I'm currently writing chapter 19 so I'm ahead of schedule. I do this so I can edit the chapters before so that they are of decent quality so no asking to post them now okay?

Chapter 13 was kind of another lead in to the exams plus the first part, I found it a little difficult to come up with a good way for Naruto to complete the test. A few weeks ago I read a story where Naruto just make a Kage Bunshin and uses it to take the exam paper of one of the chuunin hidden in the crowd. Sheer brilliance, I wish I thought of that. If anyone knows the title of the story or the author please let me know I forgot.

Well, enough talking let's move on to the chapter, shall we? Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 13: Confrontations and Oh no written test?

"Naruto-kun what are you doing?" Anko asked her boyfriend for several months.

"Oh I'm sorry Anko-chan did I wake you up? I just couldn't sleep anymore so I decided to start packing for tomorrow." Naruto said while gazing at his beautiful girlfriend.

Naruto had woken at 6am after a rough night dreaming about the chuunin exam. He was getting more and more nervous by the day. So when he woke up he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep anymore so he got up instead. He took his checklist and started placing everything in front of him. He would have to seal everything into his belt today. He would have to seal food, weapons, a small first aid kit (Hinata had a very detailed kit with her since she was the medic of the team) and several other items that might be useful during this exam.

"Naruto-kun, you'll be fine. You and the rest are ready for the exam, you'll see. You guys are the strongest genin I have ever seen. We have been training for months, while others have been slacking off. You can do the sealing later, for now get back in bed, it's still early and I miss your warmth." Anko said trying to stop her boyfriend from worrying.

Naruto nodded and crawled back into bed next to her. She quickly spooned against him holding him tight. He really enjoyed having her so close to him, it made him feel much better already. Slowly he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep. When he woke up a few hours later he felt much better and got out of bed looking for Anko who apparently had already woken up. He found her in the kitchen making some last minute changes on a piece of paper. He greeted her and gave her a long kiss thanking her for letting him sleep.

"So are you ready for the last meeting later on?" Anko asked him.

"Yep, I'm ready. Just have to seal the stuff into the belt. I hope the others are doing okay? If they are as nervous as I am, there nerves must be a wreck." Naruto said while taking some toast.

"They'll be fine. Like I said there's no way that you guys aren't prepared for this. The four of you trained like crazy every day for the past few months. I know for a fact that Kakashi only told his team about the chuunin exam two or three weeks ago. He simply forgot to tell them until then. Team 10 has been training for 2 months now but I heard from Azuma that they could be a lot stronger than they are now." Anko said looking at Naruto munching at a piece of toast.

"I know we trained a lot and we made some very good progress but I'm still worried about the genin from the other villages. We can assume that they would only send their strongest genin to participate in the exam. So there might be some very strong guys competing. Especially the Suna team is strong, remember how I told you about the other day?" Naruto said frowning a little.

Anko remembered how Naruto told her about meeting the Suna team a few days ago. He had been fooling around with Konohamaru, the young boy idolized Naruto because he was strong and his grandpa had told how Naruto would be one of the strongest shinobi ever to have lived. Ever since then Konohamaru followed Naruto around trying to get him to play with him. Naruto who always wanted a little brother was only too happy to play with Konohamaru and his friends. But that day Konohamaru had ran into a guy who was wearing a huge package on his back. With him was a girl with four pigtails and who carried a fan. Naruto calmly asked the boy to put Konohamaru down before they got themselves in trouble for hurting the Hokage's grandson. At first the guy didn't seem to be willing to let Konohamaru go but when another boy appeared wearing a huge gourd on his back he quickly changed his mind. The boy with the gourd looked really strong and Naruto had a bad feeling about this boy. He quickly told his team to avoid them at all cost. Fighting him would be very dangerous to say the least.

They left the house an hour later to meet up with the team for a last meeting before the exam. They would recheck the equipment, the strategy and tactics they were going to use etc. After that they would simply relax and hang out trying to relax. When they arrived at the training grounds they saw that Hinata and Kiba were already waiting for them. Kurenai and Shino had yet to arrive. They didn't have to wait long as they arrived a few minutes later.

"Alright team, this is it. You guys have come a long way. It has almost been a year since Team 8 was formed and six months ago it gained a unofficial fourth member making Team 8 without a doubt the strongest genin team in Konoha. I have seen you train, fight and laugh together and there is no doubt in my that you guys are the best team a Jounin sensei could have. Anko and myself are very proud of you all, remember that no matter what happens. Remember that you guys are proud shinobi of the Leaf, you are members of Team 8 so show them what we can do." Kurenai said showing how proud she was of her team.

They all nodded and thanked their sensei's for the help they have given over the past few months. They knew that without their guidance they wouldn't be where they were now. After that all of them spend the day together telling stories and having fun. It proved to be the best way to spend the day before the exam. They went home relaxed and ready for the days that were to come.

The next morning Naruto woke up after a good night rest. He quietly got out of bed trying not to wake Anko and started to prepare for breakfast. When he was done he went up to the bedroom to wake up Anko. He knew she was worried about the exam even though she tried not to show it he knew her better by now. There wasn't much she could hide from him, the other way around was true as well. He put down the breakfast tray and kissed his girlfriend trying to wake her up. Feeling his kisses Anko opened her eyes and smiled to Naruto. Quietly they ate breakfast and waited for the other to finish eating. When Naruto was done he tried to get up but Anko pulled him back into bed clinging onto him for dear life.

"Anko-chan what's wrong?" Naruto said concerned.

"Naruto-kun, promise me you'll be careful. Don't let your guard down. I'm scared that something might happen to you. I don't know what I would do if I lost you." Anko said softly in his chest.

"Anko-chan, I promise that I'll be very careful. I can't promise everything will be alright but I promise you that I will make it through this exam and when I do we'll be together again. There's nothing in this world that will stop me from coming home to you. I love you and I always will." Naruto said before putting his arms around her pulling her in a kiss.

"I love you too Naruto-kun. And I'll wait for you to come back home." Anko said before kissing him again.

After they got ready Naruto and Anko left for the Hokage tower where they would meet Kiba, Hinata, Shino and Kurenai. Anko had to restrain herself from holding Naruto's hand but knew that she couldn't, it would get Naruto and the team in trouble since she was one of the people who would a proctor during the exam. Not that she would tell anything about the exam to Naruto or the rest anyway. She had made a promise to the Hokage not to tell so even if she wanted to she couldn't. Besides soon she and Naruto wouldn't have to hide their relationship anymore as soon as he made Chuunin.

They met up with Kurenai and the rest just in front of the tower. Anko and Kurenai bid their goodbye to the young genin (Anko whispered to Naruto that she loved him which he told her too) and went inside the tower where they would meet the other Jounin sensei's. The kids went to the academy while discussing some things that had nothing to do with the exam. Just before they entered the academy Naruto told them to wait.

"Guys, whatever happens in there I'm very happy to be your teammate and friend. Let us make a promise, we leave no one behind, we watch each other's back and protect each other. We will pass this exam and become Chuunin." Naruto said to his friends.

"It's a promise!" All four of them said while Akamaru barked.

"I have a gift for you guys."Naruto said while getting four small packages out of his belt. He handed one to Kiba, Hinata and Shino. They looked surprised and grateful to Naruto for the nice gesture. When they opened the package they saw the same set of 3 throwing knives Naruto had given Anko.

"You guys are part of my precious peoples and the knives are prove of that. I promise you that should a person from your future family no matter how many years from now, be in any trouble all they will have to do is show the knives to my family. When they do they will have the full support of the Uzumaki Clan. No matter when, no matter who and no matter what the Uzumaki Clan will stand beside you." Naruto said.

The three of them were shocked to hear Naruto's words, they knew that he always kept his promises. They placed the knives into their special belts and thanked Naruto by giving him a hug (Hinata) and a firm handshake (Kiba and Shino) and promised him the same thing. They would always be friends and now they would be family and allies.

They went inside the academy and went straight to the third floor passing by some idiots who were incapable of recognizing a Genjutsu placed on the second floor. They saw Team 7 and Team Gai having some kind of disagreement but since it was none of their business they just ignored it. When they arrived to the third floor they went inside the room where the test would be held. They saw a lot of genin from all the different shinobi villages and some of them looked really strong while others looked like they just graduated from the academy. Naruto quickly looked around trying to find the one who would pose the biggest threat to them.

After a short while the rest of the Leaf genin arrived while making a lot of noise and drawing attention to them. Naruto turned towards the entrance and saw Sasuke, Sakura, the guy who didn't have a name, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino and the team from last year. Except for Sasuke and Sakura he hadn't seen any of them around the village since graduation, he wondered how they would react when they saw him. He didn't have to wait long when Sakura opened her mouth calling him asking for an explanation.

"Naruto, what are you doing here? How did you become a genin anyway?" Sakura shrieked hurting the ears of everybody that stood close enough to her.

"Damn Sakura, do you have to yell like that? And I already told Sasuke that I graduated the day after you guys when I kicked Mizuki's ass. Since he was a chuunin I was allowed to pass my genin exam." Naruto said while he waited for the pain in his ears to go away.

"Really? That was you Naruto? I heard about it from my dad. He said Mizuki was beaten to a pulp, barely alive when they arrested him. What a troublesome thing to do." Shikamaru said with his lazy voice.

"Yeah that was me. He had it coming to him, he hurt Iruka sensei and tried to kill us." Naruto said.

The rest of the genin who didn't know this story started to ask some details but Naruto just ignored them. He was watching Sasuke having trouble with his fangirls. He thought it was amusing for a guy like Sasuke to have fangirls, he just didn't know what they saw in him. He figured that they just liked him because of his name and fame. Sad really he thought. Those girls were wasting their time and energy on something that would never work.

"Oi, Sasuke could you get them to keep quiet? Their making too much noise, it's really irritating." Kiba said trying to annoy the boy even more.

"Shut it dogboy. It's not like I asked them to cling to me. Or maybe your just jealous that you don't have a fanclub like I do? I don't see how any girl could be interested in you." Sasuke said sneering at Kiba.

"I don't need a girl who throw herself at me, Sasugay. I prefer a girl who still has her dignity." Kiba replied while sneaking a peek at Hinata's direction.

Naruto had to smile at Kiba's antics. He knew that it was his way to calm his nerves. He was about to intervene when a gray haired boy with glasses made his way over to them. He didn't know the boy but he wore a Leaf headband so he must be from Konoha. He supposed he was a genin from the year before. When the guy said that they were drawing too much attention Naruto had to chuckle when Ino and Sakura shivered as they felt the killer intent from the other shinobi. It didn't even come close to Zabuza's amount of killer intent so he and his teammates were fine. He saw how the gray haired genin who introduced himself as Kabuto, said something about this being the seventh time he participated in the Chuunin exam and he wondered if the guy failed on purpose for some reason or if he was just weak. He would keep a close eye to this guy, there was something wrong with him.

"So you have these cards with information on shinobi? Can you show them to me?" he heard Sasuke say, apparently he had missed a bit of the conversation.

"Sure, what are the names of the people? Do you have them?" Kabuto said to Sasuke.

"Rock Lee from the leaf, Hyuuga Neji from the leaf and Uzumaki Naruto from the leaf." Sasuke said trying to find their weak spots.

Naruto saw Kabuto take out three cards from his deck and he started reading on Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji. Judging from said guys look on their face, the information was accurate. Naruto quickly grabbed Kabuto's hand and took his own card. He started reading and a frown appeared on his head. This was way to detailed to be done by a genin he realized.

_Uzumaki Naruto_

_Age: 14_

_Birthday: October 10__th_

_Bloodtype: B_

_Rank: Genin _

_Number of missions: D-rank - 35 Taijutsu : Low Chuunin Level_

_ C-rank - 19 Genjutsu: Academy Level_

_ B-rank - 00 Ninjutsu : Mid Chuunin Level_

_ A-rank - 01 Kenjutsu : Chuunin Level_

_S-rank - 00 Overall : Low to Mid Chuunin Level_

_Remarks: Defeated Chuunin Mizuki after being tricked, resulted in passing genin exam. Trained for six months under guidance of Mitarashi Anko. Joined Team 8 afterwards to replace clan members when on clan business. Said to have learned several high level Ninjutsu and Kenjutsu. Defeated one of the Onikyoudai (High Chuunin level shinobi) on a escorting mission to the Wave. Defeated Momochi Zabuza 'Demon of the Mist' (High Jounin level shinobi) in combat during escort mission to the Wave. Rumored to have created several jutsu on his own._

"I don't know where you acquired all this information about me but this is way too detailed to let out in the open. " Naruto said destroying the card in the process.

"I'm very good at what I do." Kabuto said while staring at Naruto.

"You're not who you say you are. There's no way a genin would be able to gather mission stats, who are kept secret even from Jounin except the Jounin sensei of said team. So don't try to tell me you just went inside and asked for the information." Naruto continued trying to find out just who Kabuto is. Kiba, Shino and Hinata were keeping an eye on Kabuto as well, if Naruto said something was wrong they knew something was wrong. They trusted their friend and teammate.

Sasuke who had wanted to know about Naruto's weak points decided that he should make himself known again.

"Whatever loser, don't try to act cool. It doesn't suit you at all. We all know you're an idiot so no need to pretend." Sasuke said trying to anger Naruto.

"Yeah Naruto, why don't you just go away and let the smart and talented people be." Sakura continued.

"Besides there's no way you could compete with Sasuke-kun. You're just a loud loser who thinks he can become a shinobi." Ino added as well. She didn't really hate Naruto but since Sasuke didn't like him she went along hoping that it would help her in gaining Sasuke's love.

Naruto just ignored them and went back to him team. He told them what had been written on the card and they agreed that something fishy was going on with Kabuto. While they were talking amongst them Kabuto had insulted some shinobi who attacked him. When they saw Kabuto vomit they wondered what happened since they saw him evade the blow.

During the commotion Naruto quickly made some Kage Bunshin and told them to henge themselves and hide all over the room. He had a gut feeling they would be useful even if it was to guard their back. Better safe than sorry in his opinion. A few seconds after the Bunshin had hidden themselves in the room the proctor and several chuunin arrived in the room. They ordered everyone to take a seat and to shut up.

"Alright listen up you little maggots. This is the first test in the Chuunin exam and I'm sorry to say that for a lot of you this will be as far as some of you will get. I'll make sure of that. Now, we will distribute a sheet of paper do not look at it until we tell you to. There are some rules and explanations which I will give right now. I will not answer any question or repeat myself so you better listen well. There are 10 questions which you have to answer, but the 10th question will be announced 15 min before the time ends. Now for some rules, you have 1 hour time to answer the questions after that it's over. This is a team based exam, this means that if one of your team fails this test the whole teams fails. If you get caught cheating you lose 2 points for every time you get caught. If we catch you cheating five times you and your team are done." The man in front said.

The Chuunin in the room started to hand out the test and when everyone received their copy they were told to begin. Naruto quickly turned over his paper and started reading the questions. He had a bad feeling about this, he hated and despised written test with a passion ever since the academy. He hoped he would be able to answer the questions this time, he had been studying with Anko for almost a year now so he should be able to solve some simple questions. When he didn't know the answer to the first question, he skipped it and went to the second question and once again found that he wasn't capable to answer it. He quickly read the nine questions on the paper and a frown appeared on his face, these question were way out of his league. There was no way he would be able to answer these questions. How was he supposed to answer these questions? He looked around and saw that many of the genin there were having the same thought judging by their faces. Somehow knowing that he wasn't the only one who had trouble made him feel better about himself.

'Alright think Naruto, there has to be a trick or something. Let's think this over, what doesn't seem right here?' Naruto thought trying to calm himself down. He started replaying the words that man with the bandana had told him. There was something that wasn't right but what?

'The fact that if one of the team fails, the rest fails too seems pretty normal. In missions if a teammate gets killed the mission is considered a failure is true. So that could be seen as a preparation for that. Okay next is the cheating part. You get caught cheating you lose two points, now that doesn't seem right. When I cheated in the academy they gave me a zero for the test or kicked me out of class. Here you just lose 2 points but you can continue the test.' Naruto told himself in his mind.

'Anko-chan told me that Chuunin were responsible for low to medium risk missions and would have to be able to things such as information gathering and spying.' Naruto said remembering one of Anko numerous lessons. Then it clicked in Naruto's head. Off course, since this was an exam to see if the genins were ready to become a Chuunin so they would have to show that they had the abilities of a Chuunin. They were supposed to gather the correct information in this case the answers to these questions. This meant that somewhere in this room someone had the correct answers. All he had to do was find that person and find a way to copy his answers. He looked at his teammates and hoped that they would figure it out soon. But he saw Hinata activate her Byakugan and knew she had figured it out as well. Shino was using one of his bug to spy on someone so he was ok as well, this left Kiba. Looking over to Kiba he found him writing down some answers on his sheet so this meant he had found a way as well. So now only he would have to find a way to cheat without getting caught.

While Naruto was trying to find a way to cheat Anko and Kurenai were sitting in the Jounin lounge with Asuma and Kakashi. All four of them had a team competing in the exam so they decided to spend some time together catching up with each other. Anko who couldn't stay very long since she was the examiner of the second test, was really nervous and it showed. Kurenai had tried everything to get her to calm down but nothing worked.

"Anko, will you please sit down! You're driving me nuts with your constant running around. They will be fine, I promise." Kurenai said trying for the tenth time.

"I know, but I still worry. I know their strong and smart but still I can't help to be nervous. Not just about the first test, I'm really scared something might happen to him eh I mean them." Anko said sighing.

"Ah yes Anko, I heard you took on a student. That really surprised me coming from you. I heard some rumors about something with Mizuki and Uzumaki Naruto." Asuma said.

"Yeah, I heard about that as well. I wonder how much of those rumors are true though. I mean a academy student beating a Chuunin into a coma?" Kakashi said looking up from his orange book.

"If those rumors say Naruto defeated Mizuki, who wanted to steal the forbidden scroll and leave the village, and Naruto getting promoted to genin then those rumors are true. Anything else is probably exaggerated." Anko told them.

Anko listened how they started laughing and telling that there was no way a academy student like Naruto could defeat Mizuki without help, she was ready to bash their head in but Kurenai held her back saying that she should let them think what they wanted. They would see very soon how strong Naruto really was. It would be a very sweet revenge she told her. Anko nodded her head but was still pissed off at Kakashi and Asuma for making fun of her boyfriend.

"Well, no matter what I'm afraid that our students will be back sooner than we think."Asuma said.

When Kurenai asked what he meant, he told her that the examiner for the first test was Morino Ibiki who was the captain of the interrogation and torture squad. Seeing Kurenai didn't understand what he meant he explained that Ibiki specialized in psychological warfare and that he would make sure the first test would weed out those who weren't ready. He would make the test a psychological game and genin who had no experience in these kind of tactics would be in for a very hard time.

Anko had to agree with Asuma, she knew Ibiki personally from the time when she was part of his team. He was very good at what he did and he knew how to put enormous amounts of pressure on people. He knew how the human mind worked and he used his knowledge to the maximum. But unlike Asuma's and Kakashi's team Naruto and the rest had been prepared for this kind of thing. She and Kurenai had talked about every major group of shinobi like the Anbu, hunternin, interrogation and torture squad with them. They had discussed how each group worked and what they did. They had taught them well Anko realized. Seeing she had only 20 min left before the end of the first test she stood up and said goodbye. Kurenai wished her good luck and told her she would be seeing her in a few hours.

Naruto had never been so happy that he had prepared for everything. Just before the examiner had entered he had made several Kage Bunshins and ordered them to hide inside the room. Now he had a way to get the right answers, all he had to do was order each clone to remember one or two answers and dispel themselves giving him the information he needed. It was perfect. The clones had henged in several objects around the room and were unnoticeable for everyone else. One by one the clones got the information he needed by spying on the other genins in the room and he started to write down the correct answers.

Just when he had written down the last answer the man in the bandana told them that they would now receive the tenth and final question. He explained that they had the choice to take the final question or not. He said that if they chose to take the question and failed to get the correct answer then not only would they fail the exam they would also be forbidden to ever take it again meaning that they would remain genin forever. If they chose not to take the question they would fail as well. He started laughing when he saw the shocked faces of the genin in the room. One by one teams gave up not wanting to risk their future on this one question, they could always take the exam again next time.

Naruto looked at his team and saw that none of them had any intention of not taking the tenth question. They were sure that they would succeed in answering the question correctly. Naruto smiled when he saw Hinata's determined face showing she wouldn't back down from this. She had really changed he thought. Before she would have giving up not wanting to take such a chance but she was no longer that shy and insecure girl. She now was a young women who knew what she wanted and whose was willing to do everything it took to get it. He looked around and saw that none of the other rookie genin from the Leaf had gotten up and secretly he was very glad for that. He wanted to show them how strong Team 8 really was and for that they would need to face each other.

After about five minutes Ibiki saw that the remaining team would not give up and he allowed a small smile to appear on his scarred face. He had expected a lot more teams to give up but at least he could say he made some many of them quit before they even started.

"Very well, seeing that you won't back down from this challenge I can gladly say that each remaining team in this room has passed the first part of the Chuunin exam. Well done." Ibiki said shocking the remaining genin.

"What about the tenth question?" A genin asked.

Ibiki laughed and explained the true purpose of this test. First they would have to successfully gather the necessary information to answers the questions. Since Chuunin would be asked to do such information gathering missions and that they would have a team at their disposal they were also responsible for the survival of the members of his team. Getting caught or noticed usually meant having to fight your way out and could result in the death of a member or members.

The tenth question was a question to test their courage and willingness to complete a mission even with the odds against them. There would be missions where they would face a situation that was unfavorable to them. Would they continue the mission risking everything or would they abort it like cowards. Sometimes they would have to risk lives in order to complete the mission this was part of being a shinobi and those who left were not ready to take that responsibility.

He told them that information could mean winning the war or losing it. The right information would bring benefit and would complete the mission while false information usually meant death and defeat. That's why it was so important to gather information and that's why the enemy would do anything to get their hands on valuable information. He took off his bandana and showed the remaining genins his scarred skull which was full of scars from torturing and interrogation.

Just then the window shattered and a ball of something flew through the classroom. A large banner was attached to the ceiling by two kunai and read :

"Mitarashi Anko, examiner of the second test"

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This conclude chapter 13, I hope it was a good reading?

The next chapter will be released on the 27th of April 'Chapter 14: Back to the Forrest'

See you guys then.


	14. Chapter 14:Back to the Forest

I don't own Naruto.

Man, doesn't the anime piss you off some times? Not only does it advance at a pace slower than a snail now they have fillers again. Hopefully the fillers won't last a year again like last time. Don't get me wrong, a small filler arc once in a while isn't that bad but I find the fillers in Naruto more than lacking in plot and storytelling. I can understand the need for fillers but could they at least make them somewhat interesting?

Anyway, here are some answers to a few questions.

Some people asked me for lemons. While I enjoy a well written lemon like the next guy, I absolutely suck at writing them in a believable way. If some of you have any talent you're always welcome to send one to me and if I like it maybe I'll post it and give the author the credit for it off course. Careful, I want them to be realistic. Some lemons are too exaggerated, like Naruto being a natural stud on his first time and stuff like that. Also I don't want Anko to be shown as crazy bitch in the sack who has some weird fetish or something. I would like them to be portrayed as two people who still have to discover each other and the joys of sex.

Someone send me a PM asking if I could make a drawing of Naruto and Anko (or others from my story) but I'm sad to say that a 5 year old can draw better than I can lol. I have no talent in the field of drawing. Some like the lemon thing I someone of you has any talent in drawing and you're willing to make a picture of my story by all means feel free to do so but please send me the picture too. That way I can 'promote' it to others.

Now, for a surprise! This week we passed the 100 000 hits mark for the story so from the bottom of my heart I would like to thank each and every one of you who has read my story. And as a present to all of you next week I will not post just one chapter but I will post both chapter 15 and 16. Yes you read that right, next week you guys will get 2 chapters instead of one, this is my way to thank you all for reading my story.

Once again thanks to all the people who reviewed and read the story and I hope you continue to like it.

I now give you Chapter 14. Enjoy.

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Chapter 14: Back to the forest

Everybody looked at how a large banner hung from the ceiling and how a young kunoichi made her entrance inside the classroom. Naruto shook his head at his girlfriend antics, this was just like her to scared the shit out of half the remaining genin just by her entrance.

"No time to relax just yet, little genins. The real exam start now with the second test." Anko pronounced loudly.

Ibiki sighed, apparently Anko hadn't changed much since she became a Jounin sensei. He knew she was putting on her mask but he was one of the few who knew her quite well, they had worked together several times. And for someone as talented in the knowing how the human mind and psyche works he saw right through her. Not that he ever made any notion of that, everyone had a different way of coping with things that happened in the past. This was Anko's way of dealing with the betrayal of Orochimaru.

"Oi, Ibiki you growing soft in your old days? How come there so many teams remaining for the second test? I thought you were going to cut the number of teams in half?" Anko said turning towards Ibiki.

"I guess this year's genin are very talented. I did the test just like I was supposed to, so the rest is up to you and your test." Ibiki said slightly annoyed at Anko's questioning his abilities.

"No worries there, I'm sure my test will cut their numbers in half or worse." Anko said grinning with confidence.

The genins who had been watching the conversation started to get a little nervous, the next test would be very hard if they were to believe the kunoichi's words. The genins started to talk amongst each other but when the young woman yelled at them to be quiet you could hear a pin fall. Next she told them to meet her at training ground 44 in two hours. She told them to pack for a week long mission and left the classroom.

Naruto got up from his seat and made his way over to Hinata and the rest. They nodded and left the classroom to make their way to the forest entrance field. Since all of them had packed beforehand they were ready to go anytime. Thanks to their planning and Naruto's special belt's which held everything they would need for long term missions they didn't need any time for preparation. When they arrived at the entrance ground they sat down and started reviewing their plans.

"So guys, did you see any teams that may pose a threat to us?" Kiba asked.

"The sand team is the most dangerous one in my opinion. We should definitely leave them alone if possible." Shino said conforming the rest of the team's thoughts.

"Yeah, also that Kabuto guy is someone to look out for. He isn't who he says he is, no way he's a genin." Naruto said.

"I also saw a team from Mist staring at us. Do you think they know that we were the ones who defeated Zabuza and his men?" Hinata said adding her views on the matter.

"That's possible off course. The people in Wave could have told someone from Mist or they heard someone talk about it. That could be bad, even if Zabuza was a missing nin he still was one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist. Defeating the team who killed Zabuza would mean instant fame and recognition for them." Shino said.

"So let's see. There's the sand team, Kabuto's team and the Mist team so far. What about the rest of the Konoha rookie's?" Naruto said.

"One we should look out for is the team with Hinata's cousin Neji. They have more experience, longer training and from what I heard their Jounin sensei is very strong." Shino said.

"Otherwise Sasuke is the one to look out for, we don't want him to copy our moves after all. Then there's Shikamaru, while he might not be very strong he's very smart and sneaky." Kiba added.

Naruto and Hinata nodded seeing they too thought the same things. This would prove to be a very good test on their skills. The forest would be full of enemies and the forest itself was nothing to laugh about. They would have to be on their guard the whole time if they didn't want to be surprised. Once they were done with discussing the opposing teams they relaxed knowing this would be the last time for several days they would be able to relax without having to worry about being attacked.

Slowly but surely every team arrived at the entrance grounds of the forest, some of the genin from Konoha had heard about this place and seemed to be a little nervous. Naruto couldn't blame them, after all not everybody had spent six months inside it before this exam. Thought Naruto did think he had an unfair advantage there was nothing he could change about it now. Sandaime knew this and he still allowed Anko to use the forest as the second test, so who was he to question the Hokage. Just then Anko appeared in front of everybody which meant that the second test could start every minute.

"Listen up, this is called 'the forest of death' and you will be staying inside this forest for five days. Each team will enter through a different gate and will have to make their way to the tower in the middle of the forest. The tower is located around 10 kilometers from each gate so everyone starts out from the same distance." Anko said starting her explanation of the second test.

Everyone was listening to her words not wanting to miss out any valuable information. Everyone except one Uchiha Sasuke who decided that staying in this so called 'forest of death' was beneath him.

"Hnn, 'forest of death'? what a joke, you want us to go camping for five days? This is even more stupid than the first test." He said trying to show off.

"Now, little Uchiha you better pay attention to what I'm saying. We wouldn't want 'the last' of the Uchiha's to be eaten by a some animal that lives in the forest." Anko said smiling at Sasuke while stressing the part of 'the last' in her sentence.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me of something. Before you enter the forest you will be asked to sign this paper." She said holding a bunch of papers in her hand.

"This is a agreement paper saying that you know the dangers of entering the forest and the exam. So if you get killed Konoha won't be held responsible for your death. If you want to compete in the second test you have no choice but to sign." She said while starting to hand out the forms.

"Now, a little more information about the second test. Unlike our little Uchiha here believed, this will not simply be a camp out in the forest, there will be battles. Each team will receive a scroll. Your missions is to get the scroll from another team and make it to the tower with your team. There are two different scrolls, one is 'heaven' and the other one is 'earth', you must have one of each to pass the exam. When you acquire the two necessary scrolls you are forbidden to open them before entering the tower. Any questions?" She finished her explanation.

Sakura who had noticed that Naruto always joined Team 8 decided to voice her concern. Since they would have a team of four members they would have a huge advantage in her opinion. Anko dismissed her saying that Naruto didn't have a team, he only joined Team 8 for missions and nothing forbid him from joining up with Team 8 in this exam. But since he was considered a team on his own he would have to find his own scroll so even if they teamed up together they would have to fight for that extra scroll.

After several questions about food, water and the likes Anko told them that the exam was starting in half an hour. In that time they would have to sign their agreement forms and get their scroll. After that they would have to find the gate they were assigned to so they could start.

Naruto and Team 8 each signed their forms and got the scrolls they needed, after that they went to the gate and waited for the exam to start. While they were waiting for the gate to open Naruto sealed his 'Heaven' scroll into his belt and secured it with a bloodseal so that only he could access it. He then made two fake one's from some empty scrolls he carried with him. Team 8 did the same thing seeing this was a very good way to protect their 'Earth' scroll and to fool their enemies.

"Alright, let's go." Naruto said after the gates opened up. They hurried inside where Naruto would lead them towards the place he had stayed in all those months ago. Before they started their journey Naruto made several Kage Bunshins for backup and scouting reasons. He told half of them to follow at several minutes behind them, the other half would henge into each member of the team and scout in front of them.

"Hinata, you stay in the middle and use your Byakugan every once in a while. Kiba, you and Akamaru go in front and use your nose. Naruto, you travel between Hinata and me. I will take the rear so I can attack the enemy with my bugs if needed." Shino said quickly coming up with the best way to travel. All of them nodded and took their positions and started to jump between the trees.

After running and jumping through the forest for about two hours Naruto came to a stop alerting the others who stopped as well. When they asked what was wrong he told them that his Kage Bunshins were destroyed by enemies. Hinata activated her Byakugan to look for enemies.

"It's the team from Mist and their heading straight towards us. At this rate they'll be here in a few seconds." Hinata said causing them to take on a battle formation. Just then 3 shinobi's dropped from the trees. They were wearing a typical black shinobi outfit with long black pants and a shirt, sandals and a Mist headband. One of them had a huge sword that he carried on his back, he also seemed to be the leader of the team.

"There's a rumor going around in the Mist saying that a team of Konoha genins defeated Zabuza 'demon of the Mist' and the description of those genins matches this team." The leader of the Mist team said.

"We find it hard to believe this rumor. Zabuza may have been a missing nin, he still was one of the seven swordsmen and therefore way out of your league. There is no way he could have been defeated by four genin like you guys." The Mist shinobi on the right said.

"Even if the rumor isn't true, when we defeat you we will be seen as the ones who defeated Zabuza's killers, we'll be heroes in our village." The one on the left said.

Until then Naruto and his friend had stayed silent letting their enemies babble on since it gave them time to prepare. Naruto's backup Kage Bunshin had arrived and were waiting for the order to attack or defend. They also had made some decisions by sign language on how to deal with these enemies.

"It seems that we were right. You're targeting us because of Zabuza and Haku but I'm sorry to say that the rumors of his defeat by us are quite true. We fought Zabuza and his men in the country of the Wave a few months ago. It was a very fierce battle but in the end he lost and we won. Though the four of us agree that Zabuza was a formidable opponent. It was an honor fighting him even if we were enemies." Naruto said.

"It's even better when the rumors are true. If we defeat you guys then we'll get honored above no one in the Mist. Zabuza killed a lot of people from the Mist and he was hated by many of them as well. Even if we fail this exam we still be promoted just for defeating the four of you." The leader said while reaching for the sword on his back.

"Looks like a fight is inevitable huh? Very well, we'll fight you and take your scroll." Kiba said.

Kiba, Hinata and Naruto stepped up to the front while Shino stayed behind them. They would fight the enemy head on while Shino would protect the rear and attack them with his bugs. Since the enemy were genin like themselves they didn't expect the fight to be too long and dangerous.

The leader grabbed his sword in both hands and headed towards Kiba but just when he was about to cleave Kiba in half Naruto appeared in front of him and stopped the attack with his sword. While the attack was strong for a genin it was nothing compared to the blows Naruto had received from Zabuza. He pushed the enemy away and followed him starting his own attacks. While Naruto was anything but a sword master, he could hold his own thanks to his training. Naruto knew he could win this fight without having to resort to his family Kenjutsu. His opponent was still learning how to handle his sword and seemed to have trouble lifting it. Naruto blocked a blow but unlike before he didn't push back, he pulled away causing his opponent to lose balance and stumble forwards. Naruto seeing a opening punched the guy right on the nose effectively breaking it.

The two other shinobi had engaged Kiba and Hinata and were have a rough time as well. Hinata was using her new Taijutsu style and was dancing around her opponent sealing his tenketsu and hitting pressure points in his body. For Hinata this was the first real test of her new fighting style and it proved to be very efficient. She had practiced on her friends but she didn't want to hurt them to much so she held back a little during those spars. Now however she could fight with everything she got and her enemy paid for it. She had sealed several tenketsu in his arms and had hit two pressure points that made it impossible for him to lift his right arm. Seeing that the guy didn't stop attacking her Hinata continued the fight by hitting another pressure point which caused a lot of pain in his leg.

Kiba's fight had been easy, his opponent clearly was the weakest of the three. Kiba was fighting him using some taijutsu moves he had seen from Naruto. He had been Naruto's sparring partner since they were about the same height and weight and he had learned some of the moves. So when his opponent tried to punch him in the face Kiba grabbed him by the wrist and broke it by twisting it. While his opponent was holding his broken wrist Kiba kicked him in the gut which made the guy double over giving Kiba the chance to plant his knee into the face of the guy. He went down and didn't get back up. With his fight finished he looked at Hinata marveling at the way she moved and fought.

"You guys made a big mistake by attacking us so soon and without making preparations. You should have waited a day or two before attacking us, we might have been injured or tired from other fights. Also you're Mist shinobi which means that you mostly use Suiton jutsu's but since you need a water source to perform them you should have waited for us to reach the river or something. You attacked us without having a water source to use jutsu's which cut your attack power in half. Bad idea." Naruto said punching his opponent in the ribs.

"You also made a big calculation error by attacking me with a sword you can't effectively use yet. You need both arms to lift and swing it. This means that you don't have a way to defend yourself should I evade or block your attack. Also when you swing your sword you lose balance because it's too heavy for you. This in combination with the rest makes it impossible for you to win. Give up and you'll live. Give us your scroll and you'll get the chance to fight another day." Naruto said while putting his sword at the young Mist shinobi's throat.

The leader of the Mist team looked towards his teammates for help but saw one of them lying on the ground unconscious and witnessed his other teammate drop on his knees before falling face down in the dirt. He realized they had been defeated and the only way to get out alive would be giving up. But giving them the scroll would mean forfeiting the exam which he didn't want to do.

"Even if we take your scroll, you could always steal one from another team. This is only the first day, once you and your team have rested and healed up you should be able to get a scroll." Naruto said seeing how his opponent was doubting which decision to make.

Sighing he took out the scroll from his pocket and handed it to Naruto who made his way over to Kiba and the rest. Having received the scroll they nodded and disappeared in the tree once again heading towards the cave leaving the Mist team to lick their wounds and curse their bad luck.

One hour later Naruto and the rest arrived at the cave and took positions in order to check for enemies or traps. Hinata used her Byakugan to scout the area but it came up empty. It seemed that they were the first to find the cave or to arrive here. Naruto made some clones and told them to spread out around the clearing and guard them. He also ordered two of them to make some traps. While the clones were busy Naruto and the rest went inside the cave to have some diner and get some rest from the running and the fight earlier. With the food they had stored into their belt they didn't have to hunt or catch food which meant more time to rest and also meant less risk of encountering a enemy. Since it was late in the afternoon already they decided to stay inside the cave and prepare for the coming days. There would be one of them on guard at all time in case of an attack.

The night had passed without any attack or problems and the team had gotten sufficient rest so the four of them were in good spirits. They had already found a 'Heaven' scroll so Team 8 was already set which meant they only needed a 'Earth' scroll for Naruto and after that they could head towards the tower. The night before they had discussed when they should look for the scroll. Should they wait a extra day which could mean that the opponent would be tired or injured? Or should they attack now and make their way to the tower as soon as possible. At first waiting a extra day sounded good but when Shino said that there might even be a next test after this one they decided they should finish this one as fast as possible. That would give them more time to recuperate from the last few days if necessary. The rest of the team soon agreed with Shino's way of thinking and so they would search out a team today. Since they didn't really wanted to fight a team from Konoha they would focus on the team from the other villages. Well except the Suna Team, which they had decided to leave alone as long as possible. When they woke up Naruto created some clones and told them to scout the area and look for a opponent.

After eating breakfast in the cave Naruto's clone told him that they had found a team from Kumo who were located about 10 minutes from their location. The clones couldn't see what scroll they had but even if it was the wrong one they could take it and reduce the competition. They decided that this team was as good as any other so they prepared themselves for battle. They sneaked closer to the Kumo team and started their attack. Naruto made several dozen clones to distract them and to destroy any traps they might have placed. Shino would send his bug to leech their chakra while they would be busy fighting the clones. This way the enemy would be weakened and easier to defeat.

The Kumo team who were having breakfast at the time of attack didn't have the time to think of a plan or counterattack. Faced with dozen of clones they were caught off guard and outnumbered, so they had to make their way through them by force. This meant that they had to use a large amount of chakra and stamina and with Shino's bugs feeding from them they didn't last very long. When they defeated the army of clones two of them were on the verge of fainting from chakra exhaustion. This seemed the best time for Naruto and the rest to make their presence known and they jumped from the trees to face their opponents.

"Give us your scroll and we'll leave. Refuse to give it and we'll take it by force. Your choice." Kiba said to the Kumo team.

Unfortunately for the Kumo team they decided not to give the scroll and they attacked. But before even reaching Naruto and the rest they got hit in the hit by 3 clones that Naruto ordered to take them down in case they didn't want to listen. So with the three Kumo nin down for the count, Shino emptied their bags and pockets and saw that the team had a 'Heaven' and a 'Earth' scroll. Apparently the team had already found the necessary scroll the day before but had stopped for the night. Naruto took the 'Earth' scroll and sealed it in his belt, he told the rest that they could do whatever they wanted with the other 'Heaven' scroll. Hinata, Kiba and Shino decided to take the scroll with them so they would have a backup. It would also mean that the Kumo team would have to find two new scrolls and maybe be disqualified if they didn't succeed.

"That was easier than expected." Kiba exclaimed.

"It did seem a little dirty to attack them with clones and Shino's bugs but in the end a shinobi uses every advantage they have right?" Naruto asked them.

"Off course, a shinobi does not fight by the rules. A shinobi fights to win and to do that they use every trick in the book." Shino said.

Since they now had the necessary scrolls the only thing needed to be done was to reach the tower and they would have passed the second test of the exam. Things were looking good for them but they decided not to take any risks. It wouldn't do to be caught off guard because they were lured into a false sense of security. They took the same formation like the day before and headed towards the tower. They had plenty of time to reach the tower so they traveled slowly and carefully through the forest not wanting to alert any enemies of their presence. After two hours of traveling they took a short break and rested for a while, trying to catch their breath. Suddenly Hinata told them that she saw Team 7 being attacked by the Sound team and apparently Sakura was the only one capable of fighting.

"We got to help her, there's no way she can win against 3 enemies!" Hinata said.

"Dammit, fine I don't like the girl but you're right. She's a shinobi of the Leaf and we cannot ignore her like that. Let's go." Naruto said getting ready to fight.

They quickly made their way over to Sakura's position wondering what had happened to Sasuke and the other guy. The must have fought a strong opponent if they were out for the battle. Maybe they faced the team from Suna? Sasuke would want to fight the strongest genin to test himself Naruto thought. Typical him, getting his ass kicked because he was too arrogant and stubborn. When they arrived at the scene they saw how a guy in a green clothing was fighting to protect Sakura but he was having trouble for some reason. The sound nin was about to go for the kill when another team jumped out of the bushes. Hinata, Kiba, Shino and Naruto recognized them as Team 10.

The sound nin didn't seemed very scared of fighting two team of Konoha genins, this meant that they either were very strong or very overconfident. Naruto told the rest to stay hidden for now, if things went bad they could always intervene later on. He wanted to see how strong the Sound nin were, seeing them fight would help them later on he realized. The others nodded and stayed hidden in the trees watching the fight that was about to start. But before either team could start attacking two other Konoha shinobi arrived at the scene. They listened how the Hyuuga boy explained how the green boy was his teammate and they would pay for hurting him.

Just then a very strong but evil chakra filled the place stopped the conversation. Everyone turned their head to find the source of this new chakra and saw Sasuke standing there with strange marks on his body.

"This power is unbelievable! I have never felt so strong before! He gave it to me to accomplish my goal, with this power I can finally defeat him!" Sasuke said while smirking.

He then saw the crowed that had formed and a smirk formed on his face. He quickly looked around and deduced that the sound nin had been the ones to attack them. They would have to be taught a lesson he realized. Nobody attacked him without having to deal with the consequences. He looked towards one of the sound nin, who had been standing the closest to him. Seeing Sakura lying on the ground bruised and beaten showed him that this guy had hurt his teammate, not that he particularly cared about her but she was still his teammate and if she got killed he would be disqualified from the exam and that was unacceptable to him.

"Guess I will start with you. I hope you're worthy of a challenge." Sasuke said.

"A little genin like you would never be able to defeat me! Take this! Zankuuha!" the sound nin yelled out. A blast of wind shot out of his hand towards Sasuke who didn't seemed to move.

After the dust cleared Sasuke and Sakura had disappeared and the sound nin started laughing and boasting about how he had defeated the Uchiha. But when he heard his teammate yelling for him to look out he got hit from behind and crashed head first into the ground. He shakily stood up trying to find his attacker when he felt someone grabbing his arms and twisting them behind his back.

"It seems you're quite proud of these arms. I should have to do something about this." Sasuke said from behind the sound nin. He then proceeded to twist the guys arms even further then normally possible and the sound of two arms breaking filled the area. He dropped the sound nin and started focusing on the other guy saying that the first had been a big disappointment. The remaining sound nin however wasn't a idiot and realized that he couldn't win against this Sasuke. He was about to give up when Sakura grabbed Sasuke from behind and begged him to stop this fight. Slowly but surely the mark on Sasuke's body disappeared and he slumped to the ground. The sound nin quickly gave up his scroll in return for a save passage of him and his team.

"Wait! What is going on here? Why did you attack us and who is this Orochimaru guy?" Sakura yelled out.

"I don't know. Our only mission was to kill Sasuke. We don't know anything else." The sound nin said grabbing his fallen teammates and left.

When Naruto heard the name Orochimaru his heart stopped for just a second. If that man was here then Anko would be in danger. If she found out about him being here she would confront him and there was no way she could win against one of the legendary Sannin. Sure she was strong but the Sannin were on a whole different level than everyone else. He needed to know what happened here and how they had met Orochimaru. He turned towards his friends and they nodded. They had seen his reaction and even when they didn't know what was going on they knew that Naruto was worried about something. Naruto jumped from his hiding place and went straight to Sakura to question her.

"Sakura, what happened? Did you guys see Orochimaru? Tell me everything that happened." Naruto demanded from Sakura scaring her in the process.

"Naruto, what are you doing here? How do you know this Orochimaru guy?" Sakura answered back. If Naruto was involved in this she would hurt him she thought.

"Orochimaru is one of the legendary Sannin and he betrayed Konoha years ago. He is a S-class missing nin and a large threat to Konoha. If he's here that would mean Konoha is in danger. Now tell me what happened." Naruto said.

Sakura who had heard about the legendary Sannin before started telling about how she and Sasuke had been attacked by Orochimaru and how they tried to escape. She told him about that Sasuke had tried to fight him off but that the snake Sannin had bitten Sasuke in the neck which made Sasuke lose consciousness. She told him how he said that Sasuke would seek him out for power and how she managed to transport both of her teammates to a safe place and how she was attacked by the sound nin.

Naruto listened to her story and cursed under his breath. This was bad he realized. Sasuke had received a cursed seal like Anko but unlike her Sasuke had already activated it and knowing Sasuke and how hungry for power he was would mean that he now be able to use it. He would have to warn him about the dangers of using the seal but it was unlikely Sasuke would believe him.

"You should tell Sasuke not to rely on that seal. It's cursed and every time he uses it he'll become more and more addicted to it. It eats away at the soul. Tell him when your alone." Naruto whispered to Sakura.

Naruto made some signs and Hinata, Kiba and Shino made their way over to him. Hinata had been looking over Sasuke's wounds and tried to heal him as much as possible. She then went over to Sakura and started healing her as well. Even if she didn't like the girl she couldn't leave her injured like that, it could mean the end of her if they encountered any more shinobi. After healing her she went over to the rest of her team.

"Alright guys, we need to get to the tower as fast as possible. I'm really worried about Anko. If that man is here she will try to confront him. I need to stop her from doing just that. I just hope I'm not too late already." Naruto said concern showing in his eyes.

They nodded and said their goodbye's to rest of the genins and left for the tower. They travelled fast and after another hour of high speed jumping and running they reached the tower and went inside. When they entered the tower they came inside a big room wondering what they were supposed to do now. Shino remembered Anko telling them not to open the scroll until they arrived at the tower and since they were here now he figured that it was okay to open them now. They each took their scrolls and opened them hoping that they did the right thing. When they saw smoke coming out of the scrolls they quickly tossed them to the other side of the room preparing for what might happen next. When the smoke cleared they saw two people emerge and were surprised when they saw that it was Kurenai and Anko.

When Anko saw Naruto she leaped towards him and grabbed him in a hug. She had been terrified thinking that they had encountered Orochimaru. Now that she saw him save and in good health she finally could relax a little. Naruto like her was terribly worried but seeing her eased his heart and when he felt her in his arms he couldn't help but feel relieved. He held her and kissed her with everything he had showing her how much he had missed her and how happy he was knowing she was okay.

Kurenai was equally happy seeing her team in good health, she too had been very worried when she heard that someone like Orochimaru was inside the forest for who knows what. No matter how strong her students were she realized that they had no chance in defeating a Sannin. She and her team smiled at the Naruto's and Anko's intimate moment but realized that both of them needed to know that the other was alright. She cleared her throat letting them know they were waiting for them so they could explain what happened.

"Sorry Kurenai you're right this isn't the time for loving." Anko said but there was a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Alright you guys start talking. What happened in the forest?" Kurenai asked the four genins.

Naruto and the rest started to tell about how they encountered the Mist team and defeated them, how they arrived at the cave and spend the night there. They then explained how they defeated the Kumo team and that they took both scrolls from them ensuring that the Kumo team was as good as disqualified. Next they explained how Hinata saw Sakura being attacked by the sound nin and how Lee saved her but still got beaten. When they told about how Sasuke woke up with strange marks on his body and how his chakra felt really strong but evil Anko paled.

"Anko-chan, Sasuke activated his cursed seal. When he did he started babbling something about how HE gave him the power to beat HIM. He was laughing like crazy and didn't seem to be his usual self. I told Sakura to tell him about the effects of using the seal but I doubt he will listen to us." Naruto said holding his girlfriend.

"Damn, that means it's too late to seal it completely. If he hadn't used we would have a much better chance at sealing it but now that's impossible. The only thing we can do now is suppress it with a suppression seal. But even that won't hold it if he doesn't really want to and even using it once could mean that he's already addicted." Anko said cursing their bad luck.

She then told them how she had encountered Orochimaru in the forest and how she had fought him. Naruto wasn't happy when he heard Anko tell him that she had engaged Orochimaru when she made him promise never to do so. When he told her she apologized but told him that she didn't wanted to fight him but she was really worried about them and she had gone searching for them as well. She had hoped not having to fight him but in the end she had no choice. Naruto told her that he wasn't really mad at her but he had been very worried and it scared him. She hugged him tightly and kissed him quickly before telling them that they had been one of the first to arrive at the tower. Since there were still two and a half days before the end of the second test they had that time free to relax and recover. Kurenai and Anko then showed them were they could rest and sleep. Anko told Naruto that she was going to report everything they told her to the Hokage and that she would try to visit him tomorrow. She kissed him goodbye and disappeared making Naruto sigh wishing that this exam would just finish now so that they wouldn't have to hide their relationship any longer.

* * *

This ends Chapter 14. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Do not worry about the fight between Anko and Orochimaru. It will be shown in a flashback later on in the story.

Next week on the 4th of May I will post both Chapter 15: Bonding and Preliminary's AND chapter 16: A pervert for a teacher?

See you guy's then.


	15. Chapter 15:Bonding and Preliminarys

I don't own Naruto or any of its characters

Hey, are you all doing? I'm doing fine for the moment, it was a lovely weather this weekend and I used it to finish up chapter 19 and started on the next chapter already.

Yesterday I watched a show with Jeff Dunham, a brilliant ventriloquist. It's amazing how he's able to do that and he's extremely funny as well. I recommend it to everybody. I'm sure people from America will now him or at least have heard of him.

Like I said exams are approaching for me so starting this week I'll have to start preparing and studying again ( I hate exams) so my time for writing will be severely reduced. I'll probably post the remaining chapters that I have written so far but after that, I'm afraid I won't post anything till after my exams which is until July. I'm really sorry about that, I had hoped to have enough chapters to keep on posting but the last few weeks have been very hectic with writing papers and assignments for class.

Maybe I'll post the first chapters of my Harry Potter story so that you guys have something to read in the meanwhile?

Should I have the time to finish some chapters before then I can just keep on posting but I won't promise anything that I can't make true. These exams are very important since it's my last year so failing is not an option.

Anyway like I promised today I'll post TWO chapters at once to thank you guys for reading my story so let's get this show on a run.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 15: Bonding and Preliminary's

Naruto and Team 8 had been spending the rest of the time relaxing and recovering from the fights in the forest even though they weren't hurt or extremely tired. They had seen several teams arrive at the tower like Team 10 and even though they didn't really know each other apart from the academy Naruto tried his best to get to know them. He knew a little about each of them and their capabilities thanks to Anko and Kurenai but that was it. So wanting to make some new friends and allies he went over to talk to them. Seeing Ino was busy talking to Asuma sensei and Chouji was in the process of stuffing his face with food he went over to Shikamaru.

"Hey guys, good to see you made it too. How were the days in the forest?" Naruto asked with genuine interest.

"Hey Naruto, yeah we barely made it but it was so troublesome to get here." Shikamaru told him in his usual bored and lazy voice.

They talked for a bit asking each other how it went and if they knew what was going to be next. Shikamaru also asked Naruto about how he graduated since he wanted to know the full story instead of rumors here and there which probably were lies anyway. So Naruto told him how Mizuki tricked him into stealing the scroll and how he tried to kill Iruka and him so he could escape from Konoha. Shikamaru listened with his full attention on Naruto and started to respect the guy a little more, sure he didn't really know Naruto before but he always thought it was weird how people treated him sometimes. Unlike many thought Shikamaru was quite perceptive and paid attention to things normal people would see as useless. He came to the conclusion Naruto was much stronger and more talented than he originally thought and promised himself to keep on his toes if he ever was to fight the blonde shinobi. He wasn't stupid enough to rely on the things he knew about Naruto from their academy time, this seemed to be a whole new Naruto and he couldn't help but ask about it.

"Naruto, don't take this the wrong way but you have changed a lot from the Naruto I knew in the academy. What happened to you?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well several things actually, after I kicked Mizuki's ass into a coma Sandaime told me that my parents wanted me to become the best shinobi I could be. You know I'm an orphan right? Well, hearing that I promised them I would become the world's strongest shinobi and for that I needed to stop fooling around. Also for the first time since Iruka Sensei I got a teacher who actually thought me something, my Jounin teacher turned out to be the best teacher I could ever get. She really taught me a lot and I stopped being a little kid and started to be a true shinobi of the Leaf. Until the thing with Mizuki I kind of thought that being a shinobi was about fighting and defeating bad guys. You know, like in stories and stuff but then I realized being a shinobi is about protecting the ones you love, the people that mean a lot to you and when I realized that I knew I had to get serious about being a shinobi. I need to get a strong as I can possibly be to protect my village and the ones I love." Naruto explained.

Shikamaru was shocked hearing Naruto's words, in a way he thought the same thing as Naruto. He wanted to be an average shinobi, find a wife and raise a family and die of old age having lived a quiet normal life. But hearing Naruto talk about what he thought what being a shinobi was all about he actually believed Naruto was right. Even if he found a wife and raised a family, what good would it do if he couldn't defend them because he was to weak. Maybe it was time for him to grow up and start being serious as well. He would have to think about this he realized.

"Thank you Naruto, you have giving me a lot of things to think about. I will see you soon but for now I'm going to rest up while I still have some time." Shikamaru told Naruto.

Naruto wondered what he had said to Shikamaru but waved his goodbye and went to find his friends. Asuma however had been listening to the conversation and silently thanked Naruto for his words to Shikamaru. Naruto had succeeded in something he had been trying to do for months. Ever since Team 10 started their genin career he had been trying to get Shikamaru motivated and to be more serious about training and shinobi life. But everything he had tried failed and he was close to giving up figuring Shikamaru would learn on his own what it meant to be a shinobi, now however he knew that Shikamaru would think about Naruto's words very carefully and maybe he would realize that Naruto was right. He would have to apologize to Anko for laughing at her student, she had made a true shinobi out of him he realized.

While Naruto and his friends were busy doing nothing Anko was on her way to tell the Hokage about what she had learned about Orochimaru from Naruto. The Hokage needed to know what was going on so appropriate actions could be taken. She realized this was a very bad situation for Konoha, if they cancelled the exams they would be considered weak by the other shinobi villages and this was never a good thing. There had been wars for lesser reasons than that and seeing Konoha had won the previous two wars they were a prime target should they appear weak. She knew Iwa and Kumo still harbored bad feelings about Konoha and they wouldn't let a chance like this go by if they found out that Konoha was having internal trouble. They had to continue the exams and hoping that everything would turn out okay. Still she had a very bad feeling about all of this and it worried her. She hadn't fought in a war before but she heard stories from older shinobi and frankly it scared the shit out of her. She was someone who liked to fight sure but war is something nobody could ever like. When she saw the door to the Hokage's office she stopped her train of thoughts and concentrated on what would follow next. She knocked and when she heard the Hokage's permission she entered. She saw that every Jounin sensei who had a team in the exam was present as were a few other Jounin.

"Ah Anko welcome, we were waiting for you. Please tell us quickly what you have learned. This will just be an report, we will meet on this topic more seriously after the preliminary's." Sandaime said.

"Very well sir. When I saw those bodies I immediately recognized Orochimaru's work and I asked for back up from Anbu. After that I went inside the forest trying to find out why he was here for hoping that I wouldn't have to face him but unfortunately he found me and we engaged in battle. Like you might suspect I had absolutely no chance against him but I did find out several things from him. He said he was here for Uchiha Sasuke and that he gave him the same cursed seal as me. He also told me that if the exams were canceled he would destroy Konoha." Anko started.

Sandaime and the rest of the Jounin listened to Anko's report and got angry and started talking amongst them when she told them that Orochimaru wanted to destroy Konoha. Sandaime ordered everyone to stay calm and to let Anko continue.

"Thank you sir, yesterday afternoon Naruto and Team 8 arrived at the tower and they told me that they saw Team 7 being attacked by the sound nin. They decided to intervene when they saw that Haruno Sakura was the only one able to fight. They also confirmed that Uchiha Sasuke received the cursed seal and that he activated it during the fight with those sound nin. As you know the seal is impossible to seal away so the best option is to place a suppression seal on top of the seal and hope that the Uchiha has the mental strength to help suppress it." Anko finished.

Sandaime sighed thinking he was too old for all these things but seeing that he didn't have a successor at hand he realized he had no choice other than to deal with this himself. Apparently the bad feelings he had been having about this exam were justified.

"Alright, since Team 7 isn't back yet there's not much we can do for now. Kakashi, as soon as Sasuke is back you are to place a suppression seal on him. We will first complete the preliminary's since this comes first after that we'll meet again to discuss the course of actions for the future. Keep your eyes and ears open at all time, the smallest piece of information may save many lives. Dismissed." Sandaime said and every Jounin disappeared from the office.

Sandaime stood up from his chair and walked to the window. He looked at the view of the village that he loved so much. The thought of it being destroyed by one of his former students was very hard on his old heart. He couldn't help but regret not killing Orochimaru all those years ago, he had failed in doing what was necessary that time but this time he would not hold back. If Orochimaru planned to destroy the village he would once again become the Hokage his old enemies feared. He would show them that he still had the will of fire in him and anyone who tried to hurt this village or his people would regret it for a very long time. He had been the one to lead Konoha through two shinobi wars and he would make sure that Konoha would make it through another if it came that far.

--

The next day Naruto woke up feeling very anxious the coming day since in a few hours the second test would be over and they would finally be told what the third test would be. He and Team 8 had been speculation on the things the third test could be. They had come to a conclusion that the first test was about knowledge and spying and the second test was about survival and teamwork so to them to third test would be individual strength and fighting skills. They had spent some time with Team 10 the day before and they hit it off fairly well especially Naruto and Shikamaru seemed to become good friends. He had discussed their idea for the third test and Shikamaru had to agree that this was a very possible outcome.

Ino who didn't really liked the Naruto she knew from the academy took some time to analyze the Naruto in front of her and she was honestly surprised. No longer was he a shrimp in a orange jumpsuit who always wanted to be in the center of attention and always made a fool out of himself. This was a grownup Naruto, who looked strong and confident but no arrogant, one who she might even get along with if she got to know him a little better she thought. She made her way over to Hinata and started to talk to the shy girl she remembered from the academy.

"Hey Hinata, how are you doing? Are you nervous as well?" Ino asked expecting Hinata to stutter her answer like she used to do.

"Hey Ino, I'm doing fine thank you. How are you? And yes I getting a little nervous but we've trained really hard for this exam so I'm sure we'll be alright. How about you?" Hinata said smiling at Ino. She hadn't really talked to the girl before since she didn't like fangirls to much but at least Ino didn't insult Naruto or her team.

"I guess I'm starting to get little nervous as well. I mean everybody is so strong and we're only rookie genins so I'm a little worried. We did a lot of missions before but nothing compared to this. How long have you been training for the exam?" Ino asked curiously.

"Well, ever since Naruto became an unofficial member of the team we've been training really hard but the last four months we focused on training for the exam. We even did less mission so we would have more time to train." Hinata said not seeing any harm from letting Ino know this.

"Four months! You guys have been training four months for this exam! We only knew about the exams 2 months before it started!" Ino exclaimed shocked at Hinata's words.

"Euh yes, our Jounin sensei's told us as soon as they got the permission from the Hokage to tell. We then decided to do less missions and more training." Hinata said slightly worried that she had said something stupid.

"Damn that Asuma! He could have told us earlier but no he waited until one month before the exam. When I get my hands on him! He better have a good explanation or else." Ino said red in the face.

Naruto and the rest of the teams who had heard Ino's yelling came over asking what the problem was and when Shikamaru and Chouji heard about Team 8 and Naruto's training they sighed and said that this was typical for Asuma. Naruto assured them that Team 7 only started training three weeks before the first test because Kakashi forgot to tell them about it. That cheered Ino up a little knowing that her rival had even less time to train than she did. They spend the rest of the day talking and having fun amongst each other and even talked a little to the members of Team Gai. Well, two members of Team Gai because Neji refused to talk to them. They learned quite a bit about Rock Lee and TenTen as well and at the end of the day all of them had become friends and viewed each other as equally talented shinobi of the Leaf.

--

After he showered and got dressed for the day, he rechecked his equipment and went outside to look for the rest of the rookie genin. When he arrived at the meeting room he saw Hinata fussing over Sakura trying to heal her wounds for her. Apparently Team 7 had made it just in time and since the second test would end in a few hours they didn't have much time to rest up. He made his way over to them and greeted them a good morning. Hinata smiled and wished him a good morning as well but Sakura ignored him like usual but something seemed a little off he thought. He couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she could be a fantastic kunoichi but her crush on Sasuke prevented her from reaching her full potential. He hoped that she would realize how wrong she was about Sasuke before she got herself killed.

He saw Kiba and Shino standing on the far left side of the room and joined them. They knew from each other that they were nervous and that they needed to get their minds of it so they talked about small things like what was better dango or ramen or stuff like that. A few minutes later Hinata joined them with confused look on her face.

"That was strange." Hinata said still looking confused.

When they asked her what was strange Hinata told them that Sakura had not only thanked her for healing her she also apologized to her for all the things that had happened before. She said that she had no excuse to treat them the way she did and that she was truly sorry. She also said that she would apologize to each of them separately when the test was over. Naruto couldn't help wondering what could have happened to change Sakura in such a way, this wasn't the Sakura he knew maybe something happened after in the last two days in the forest. He would remember to ask her he thought.

Finally the second exam ended with only a few teams who made it through the forest. They had all been ordered to assemble in the great hall and one by one the teams entered. When all the teams had arrived the Hokage and their Jounin sensei's appeared as well marking the end of the second test. Anko stood in front of them waiting for each team to take a position so she could do her speech and then join Kurenai.

"Congratulations to every team that made it through the forest. You have proven to us that you can handle yourself well while being in a tough situation and that you can be trusted with classified information. This is not yet the time to relax but for now I give the word to Hokage-sama who will tell you about the true reason for the chuunin exam. Once again congratulations on passing the second test." Anko said before appearing next to Kurenai somehow relieved that her part of the exam was over.

The Hokage nodded to Anko thanking her for a job well done and made his way over to the genins who were waiting for him to start. He looked at the teams and saw that five of the seven teams were from Konoha. This pleased him greatly, he had known that the current generation was strong and this was all the prove he needed.

"Welcome and congratulations to each and every one of you. You have made you village proud by succeeding in the second test. You are the best your village has to offer so be proud of that. Now, I'm supposed to tell you the true meaning of the Chuunin exam. The true purpose of this exam is not just determine which genin is strong enough or good enough to become Chuunin, it's more like a war on a miniature scale. Let me explain, a village strength depends on how many capable shinobi it has but also on the fact that the other villages know how strong their opponents are. By holding the chuunin exam however we can judge how strong a village is, this is not entirely reliable but it give an idea. Let me give you an example. If a village sends 10 teams to enter the chuunin exams and all 10 teams pass that would mean that their teams received excellent training and show the rest of the villages that they're strong and capable of fighting. The other villages would see this and be wary to attack that particular village in fear of losing." Sarutobi started his speech.

He looked over the crowed and show that many of them started to understand what the exams were truly about. He then proceeded to tell them that this sort of exam saved many lives since there would be no casualties except the genins who participate in the exam. He explained that war should always be avoided and this was the only way to do so. He told them to fight with everything they got and make their village proud. After his speech he started to explain what would happen next but a Jounin asked for permission to do it in his place. Sarutobi nodded and let the Jounin take the stage so he could explain the coming events.

"Welcome, my name is Hayate Gekkou and I'm the examiner of the third test. Before we start the third test however we need to reduce your numbers. Apparently the first and second test were too easy and now too many of you passed. Because of that we will now have preliminary matches between all of you. I'll your referee and I'll start and stop the matches. Remember this well when I say a match is over that means you stand down. You will fight one on one and the winner will pass on to the finals. Those finals are the third test in case you didn't get that part. Your opponent will be chosen by random and you cannot chose your own opponent. You lose the match when you lose consciousness, I end the match or you give up. Any questions?" Hayate said.

Seeing that nobody had any questions he told them to get up to the balcony since the preliminary's were going to start in fifteen minutes. Everybody went up the stairs nervous and wondering who they would have to fight. Naruto and Team 8 had never been so happy that they arrived so early at the tower, they had time to rest and prepare while some like Team 7 just arrived tired and injured. Naruto went over to Anko and smiled at her letting her know that he was alright, she saw him smile and winked at him showing she had absolute trust in him to pass his match.

Every genin looked up to the wall where a giant screen appeared and started to shift through all the names so fast nobody could follow it. Then it stopped and the first match was called.

"Alright for the first match we have Uchiha Sasuke and Yamanaka Ino. Please come down." Hayate called out.

Ino cursed. Not only did she have to go first, she also had to fight the rookie of the year and her crush (although that was changing she realized). This was going to end bad she just knew it. There was no way she could beat Sasuke as a matter of fact she was scared to death of him after seeing him fight the sound nin in the forest. The fact that he could do something so cruel was something she couldn't forget crush or no crush. But she wouldn't give up, she would show that she wanted to be a true kunoichi not just a fangirl like many called her. When she passed Sakura however she heard her telling to be careful and when she looked at her rival she saw worry and concern instead of the usual rivalry for Sasuke which made her worry even more than before.

Sasuke was content, not only was he the first match he also had to fight a weak fangirl so this match was in the bag as far as he was concerned. He made his way down to stairs trying to look important and went over to Hayate waiting for the match to begin. He smirked when he saw Ino's face showing that she really didn't feel confident to fight him. Who could blame her he thought. She was fighting an Uchiha after all. But while he wanted to take his time defeating her, that dammed seal was hurting like a bitch, and made him decide to finish the match quickly. After all she wasn't someone who would pose a challenge.

"Alright first match Uchiha Sasuke versus Yamanaka Ino. Remember the rules and show us a clean but good fight. Begin!" Hayate said.

Sasuke immediately started his attack by closing the distance between them and throwing a punch at Ino's face which she hardly managed to evade. He didn't let up however and followed with a high kick aimed at her head. She managed to put up a block but kick had thrown her off balance and Sasuke used this to punch her in the gut. Seeing her double over he jumped back and started doing handseals.

Naruto recognized the handseals and couldn't believe that Sasuke would use a jutsu like that on a fellow Konoha shinobi. Sure he wanted to reach the finals as well and he would give it his all during his match but he wouldn't try to seriously hurt his opponent. If Sasuke used that jutsu Ino would be hurt or even killed.

Sasuke finished his handseals and started to yell out "Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu" but then he felt a enormous pain in his neck originating from the seal that snake freak gave him. He then remembered that ever since that he got that seal using chakra was painful and very hard to do. He would have to find another way to defeat this fangirl. Since ninjutsu was out he decided to simply use taijutsu to defeat her.

Ino who had been recovering from the punch to the gut heard Sasuke yell out the name of a Katon jutsu and prepared herself for lots of pain. But luckily the pain never came and she looked up to see Sasuke holding his neck like he was in pain. She was grateful for whatever gave him pain but when she saw him smirking at her she knew the fight wasn't over yet. She got in a taijutsu stance she had learned in the academy and waited for Sasuke's attack.

Sasuke not wanting to waste any time went straight for the kill. At the last moment he changed his direction and kicked her from below sending her upwards in the sky. He jumped up and kicked her another time sending her higher and higher until he started to fall as well. While they were falling he kicked her a last time sending her straight into the ground knocking her out. Hayate seeing that Ino wouldn't get back up called for the medics and pronounced Sasuke as the winner of the fight. When Sasuke tried to get back up the stairs Kakashi went down and told Sasuke to come with him so he could place a suppression seal on him.

While everybody was worried if Ino would be okay the board showed the next two fighters for the second match. Naruto looked at the board and smiled. This meant that he wouldn't have to fight one of his teammates to reach the finals only two more to evade he thought.

"Second match Aburame Shino versus Zaku, would the two of you please come down." Hayate said announcing the second match.

Team 8 and Naruto wished Shino good luck even though they knew Shino would win. Each of them knew that underneath the calm and reserved image Shino projected there was a warrior hidden just waiting for the right time. Shino had a good head on his shoulders and he could remain calm in almost every situation allowing him to analyze his opponents and come up with an effective way to defeat them.

"Second match Aburame Shino versus Zaku. Show us a good fight. Begin." Hayate said starting the match.

The sound nin wasted no time and used his right arm to use his sound attack. Shino however made no acknowledgement of this and remained standing waiting for the attack to hit him. The attack from Zaku hit him in the face and it threw up a lot of dust blocking the fight from everybody's view. Even Zaku couldn't see if his attack had done any real damage but he already started to yell out his victory but when the dust cleared he saw that instead of the real Shino he had hit a clone made of bugs. He turned around when he heard Shino's voice behind him.

"You should have remembered that I already know this attack from when you used it in the forest. Therefore I had no trouble to anticipate and evade it. You on the other know nothing about me or my fighting style which should have made you a little more cautious. These bugs are chakra eating bugs, when so many attack at once they'll suck you dry in about half a minute. Since you're already injured I give you a choice. Give up." Shino said calmly.

Zaku cursed. He had been tricked and now he was surrounded by a bunch of bugs and their master. He couldn't lose this match, if he did Orochimaru would have his hide. Better fight and lose than give up and get killed by the snake guy he thought.

"Give up. Either way you have lost. If you attack one side the other side will attack you. There's no way out." Shino repeated.

Zaku laughed and slowly but surely raised both arms, each one pointing towards his enemy. One hand aimed at Shino and the other at the bugs. He grinned at Shino and started gathering chakra in his arms. When he tried to attack however both of his arms exploded blasting his right forearm off his body and causing major damage to his left arm. Before he even had the time to realize what had happened Shino appeared behind him and punched him in the back of his neck knocking him out.

"Winner is Aburame Shino of the Leaf." Hayate said seeing that Zaku was unable to continue the fight.

Shino calmly went up the stairs and joined his teammates on the balcony. When they asked how he had done that he explained to them that he ordered his bugs to close off the holes in Zaku's hands. When Zaku gathered the necessary chakra for his attack it had no way out and thus exploded inside his arms. The was the reason he told Zaku that he should give up. The rest nodded and Naruto congratulated Shino on coming up with such a plan so fast.

They were still talking amongst the four of them when they heard Hayate call out the next match. When Hinata heard her name she quickly looked towards the board and saw that she had to fight Sakura. In a way she was glad because Sakura was an opponent she could beat and she had evaded her teammates and the sand nin but she felt somewhat bad for having to fight Sakura. Had the fight been a day earlier she would have shown little or no mercy towards her but now that she had apologized for her actions Hinata found it difficult to stay mad. She would fight her like an equal kunoichi from the Leaf she decided.

Hinata and Sakura made their way down walking side by side. Hinata looked at Sakura and saw that she looked very depressed and lonely so she tried to cheer her up by giving her some words of acknowledgement and encouragement.

"Sakura-san, let's do our best okay? We'll face each other as equal kunoichi from the Leaf. Please give it your all." Hinata said smiling at the pink haired girl next to her.

"Hai, Hinata-san. I'll fight you to the best of my abilities. Thank you for kind words. Please don't hold back. " Sakura said giving Hinata a small thankful smile.

Hinata and Sakura made it to the middle of the stadium right before Hayate who looked ready to die from his cough. He nodded to both girls and told them to begin the fight. Both girls jumped back to take some distance and to observe their opponent. Sakura made the first move by making some Bunshins and attacked Hinata with the normal Taijutsu style she had been taught in the academy. Off course Hinata had no problem defending herself from this attack. She blocked Sakura's punch and retaliated by throwing a punch of her own. She would first test Sakura's skills without using the Jyuken she thought.

Sakura saw the punch coming and evaded it by jumping back and so she had been back at her starting position. She was a little surprised at Hinata since this was a whole different person than before. The Hinata from the academy was shy and hated to hurt people, this Hinata however wasn't shy at all and she fought with determination and without hesitation.

"You have changed Hinata-san. You're not the shy and gentle girl from before, I wonder what happened." Sakura asked.

"It's simple Sakura-san, I grew up. Thanks to my team and Naruto I realized that I had to change if I wanted to be a true kunoichi of the Leaf. I had to become strong and confident so I trained hard to change myself." Hinata answered her.

"A true kunoichi from the Leaf huh? Do you think I could become one as well?" Sakura said while slowly advancing towards her opponent.

"You can if you really want to. It's up to you I guess. Stop being a silly fangirl and start being a shinobi. If you work hard I'm sure you can become a true kunoichi from the Leaf." Hinata said ducking a punch thrown by Sakura.

'I will. I don't want to be a fangirl anymore. I'll work hard and I will become a true kunoichi.' Sakura yelled to herself.

"Thank you Hinata-san. I will work hard from now on. Please stop holding back and fight me at your full strength. I know I cannot win today but one day I will become strong enough to fight you evenly." Sakura said hoping Hinata would acknowledge her wish.

Hinata nodded and took her basic Jyuken fighting stance. She could see Sakura meant every word and she started to respect the pink haired girl a little more. It took courage and guts to accept your mistakes and to take the first step towards changing yourself. Hinata knew this all too well since she had to take those steps as well not too long ago. She motioned to Sakura to attack her showing that she would fight her to the maximum of her abilities. Sakura nodded and started her attack throwing punch after punch, kick after kick and while she was certain to lose this fight she had never felt so good about herself as she did on that moment. She could feel herself changing and she liked it so much that she promised herself to never again be weak.

Hinata dodged or evade Sakura's attack waiting for a opening to counter attack. Finally she saw it and losing no time she started her own attack. She pushed through Sakura's block and hit her in the right shoulder which made Sakura wince in the sudden pain. The realization that she couldn't use her arm anymore came only a few seconds later. Hinata however didn't stop her attack with just one hit, she continued and hit Sakura several times before she punched her in the stomach. Sakura who was close to losing consciousness from all those hits felt the punch to the stomach and finally gave in to the feeling of consciousness and started to fall but Hinata grabbed her by the arms preventing her to hit the ground. She looked over at Hayate who nodded and yelled out Hinata's victory.

Hinata then used one of the medical jutsu's she knew to help Sakura wake up. A few seconds later Sakura opened her eyes and looked around. She saw that she had been carried to the balcony and that Hinata was sitting next to hear.

"I guess I lost huh?" Sakura said while looking at the ground.

"You may have lost the fight Sakura-san but you acquired something that is much more important. You took the first steps towards changing yourself and that is the hardest step believe me I know." Hinata said smiling at the girl sitting in front of her.

"How did you do it Hinata-san? How did you become so strong?" Sakura asked softly.

"I did it by getting help from my friends and teammates. Without them I would never have succeeded, they encouraged and supported me all the way. Thanks to them I become the Hinata I am today." Hinata said.

"Help from my teammates? I guess that will be a problem for me. Our team is anything but a team, we hardly know each other, we never spend any time together except missions and training. All I have been doing is chasing Sasuke. I'm such an idiot aren't I?" Sakura confessed with tears forming in her eyes.

"You're not an idiot Sakura. I'll tell you the same thing Naruto told me. If you're weak then all you have to do is train harder. If something doesn't work then try harder. Nobody ever got strong by sitting on their ass and crying about how weak they are. If your team isn't willing to help then we will help you in their place." Hinata said shocking Sakura.

"Hinata is right, Sakura. If Sasuke is unwilling to help you train and become stronger than we will. You are a shinobi from the Leaf and we don't leave our comrades behind. So cheer up and stand tall and proud like a true kunoichi from the Leaf." Naruto said with Shino and Kiba standing next to him nodding their agreement as well.

Sakura heart stopped when she heard Naruto's voice thinking he would tell her to get lost or something. But instead he told her that he would help her in her training. And Shino and Kiba practically told her the same thing by nodding their head at his words. She couldn't help the tears from falling and she wondered why they would help her after all the things she had said to them.

"T-T-Thank you Naruto. I-I-I'm so sorry for all those things I said before. I was wrong and I apologize. I hope that one day we can become friends like you're with Hinata and the rest." Sakura said softly.

Naruto nodded and smiled at her. He was glad she finally realized that she was doing thing the wrong way, now she could become strong and they could become friends. He always needed more friends so he would let bygones be bygones and focus on the future.

Anko, Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi had been listening to the young genins and they all smiled at each other. Their students were well on their way to become the next generation of powerful Leaf shinobi. They had become friends in a matter of days and this would prove to be the foundation for the rest of their shinobi careers. Anko and Kurenai were beaming with pride at their students since they knew the bad history between the two girls and between Naruto and Sakura. The fact that they were willing to give her a second change showed how much they had matured during those last few months. Kakashi was happy as well, his student had finally seen the error of her ways and he couldn't be more happy. He liked the girl and he knew she could be a great kunoichi if only she focused her attention on training instead of Sasuke. He was however a bit disappointed at how his team was functioning outside of training and missions but he realized that sometimes people just weren't meant to work together.

Meanwhile the fourth match between Sabaku no Temari and TenTen had been finished in favor of Temari. TenTen who was a weapon specialist had no chance against Temari who was a wind user, every weapon she used was blasted away by the wind Temari made by swinging her large battle fan. When Hayate called the match the rest of the Konoha genin were surprised TenTen had lost so quickly and without being able to hurt her opponent. Naruto looked over at the two other members of the sand team and couldn't help but pity the one who would have to fight the redheaded boy. Not only did he seem very strong he also had a look on his face that promised pain to those who fought him.

Suddenly Anko told him to look at the message board and when he saw his own name he couldn't help but get excited. His opponent was a certain Akadou Yoroi from Konoha but he had never met the guy before. He knew he was the teammate from that Kabuto guy so he wouldn't underestimate the guy. He slowly stood up and went down the stairs to the arena, when he passed Anko she quickly told him good luck and to kick the guys ass. Naruto smiled and nodded promising to do so, he would not lose this fight. But he didn't want to give away to many of his skills seeing this was only the preliminary's and not the true third test. Still he would kick the guys ass he thought.

Standing before his opponent Naruto noticed the age difference and wondered how in god's name it was possible to still be a genin at his age. He must suck really bad or he must be hiding something Naruto thought. When he heard Hayate yelling 'begin' he took his Taijutsu stance and waited for an attack. He didn't have to wait long because Yoroi immediately lunged forward trying to grab Naruto by the arms. Seeing the attack Naruto moved his body and blocked his opponent, he then grabbed on Yoroi's right forearm with both hands and started swinging him around before letting him go. Yoroi crashed into the ground but quickly got back up.

He launched himself at Naruto again but this time he attacked with a kick which Naruto blocked without a problem. Naruto grabbed the leg with his left hand and used his right fist to backhand Yoroi in the face. Yoroi who lost his balance from the punch stumbled to his left right into Naruto's roundhouse kick sending him back the other side. Since he had no time to put up any kind of block fell down on the ground. When he looked up he saw that Naruto hadn't moved at all ever since the beginning of the match. He cursed realizing that his opponent was obviously more talented at Taijutsu then he was but in the end it wouldn't matter thanks to his Kekkei Genkai. He started grinning and couldn't help it when a small chuckle escaped his mouth.

"What's so funny? Seems to me you have not to be laughing about." Naruto asked hearing his opponent chuckle.

"You will find out soon enough little boy, for now you may have the upper hand but that will soon change." Yoroi said.

Naruto didn't care about what Yoroi said but he was now on guard, you never know what might come next. Seeing his opponent didn't make any sign of attacking Naruto decided that he would be the one to on the offensive side this time. He quickly closed the distance between them, ducked a little and threw a right punch at Yoroi's midsection. Yoroi blocked the punch with both arms and then tried to grab Naruto once more. Naruto however wasn't finished and while Yoroi was blocking his punch he elbowed him in the face with his left arm. Unfortunately Yoroi managed to grab both of his arms and didn't let go, Naruto then felt like his chakra was being sucked out his body.

"So you noticed it didn't you? Your right, I'm absorbing your chakra just by holding on to you. It's my Kekkei Genkai, it allows me to absorb charka just by touch. A small touch is all I need and now your chakra is healing my wounds and restoring my chakra levels. You can't win." Yoroi said while laughing loudly.

Naruto smirked. If this guy thinks he would just allow him to take his chakra he would be in for a big surprise, what a moron he thought. He grinned and jumped up from the ground with both feet and planned them right into Yoroi's face. Yoroi not expecting such an attack let go of Naruto's arms from shock and sudden pain. Naruto had broken his nose and blood was flowing from his nose onto the ground.

"I hope you didn't think that I would just allow you to take my chakra. Besides so what if you take a little of my chakra I got plenty where that came from. You see that's the problem with you Kekkei Genkai user, you always brag about it." Naruto said a little panting from chakra loss.

"All I have to do now is prevent you from touching me and your Kekkei Genkai is useless." Naruto further said. He calmly took out one of his knives and took a stance. He didn't want to use Taijutsu anymore since Yoroi would absorb chakra from him. He channeled some chakra into the seal on the knife and the chakra casing appeared. He wouldn't use his Kenjutsu techniques but he could do the same attacks with a knife as well only much smaller and weaker. Still it would be enough to fight this guy.

Naruto started to attack Yoroi with his knife just by making slashing and stabbing motions. Nonetheless, Yoroi had no choice than to evade the attacks. He took some distance from Naruto thinking that he was safe from attacks. But then he saw Naruto bring down his knife in a fast motion and a second later he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He looked down and saw that a large cut had appeared going from his left to right side. It wasn't deep enough to be life threatening but it sure as hell hurt and it bled enough as well.

Up on the balcony the genins were not believing their eyes. Naruto had been dominating the whole match and he had used some very nice moves and shown some real skill at Taijutsu. They could hardly recognize the Naruto in front of them, they knew he had gotten stronger and that he had changed a lot but this was too much. Lee was fascinated by the Taijutsu style Naruto used, as a Taijutsu specialist he knew a lot of styles but he didn't know the one Naruto was using.

"Gai sensei, what style was Naruto using? I don't recognize it at all." Lee asked his teacher.

"You couldn't know it Lee. Naruto developed this style on his own." Anko said before Gai could open his mouth.

Lee and Gai were shocked to hear Naruto had made his own style at such a young age. Sure Gai had his own style that he created over the years as a Taijutsu specialist but Lee wasn't even close to making his own style. Anko laughed at the shocked expressions on their faces and said that Naruto didn't exactly invent his own style rather that he combined two styles into one that he could use. Lee felt slightly better hearing that. But he still had to admire how Naruto had succeeded in making a Taijutsu style that suited him perfectly.

The other genins who heard Anko talk as well wondered how Naruto had gotten so strong in such a short period. He was no longer the dead last of the academy they realized.

Back in the arena Yoroi was starting to panic, if Naruto could cut him from a distance than he had no way of winning. He took out a kunai and tried to attack ensuring that Naruto didn't have the time to attack again. He tried to wound Naruto with his kunai but each time his attacks were blocked. He was starting to get weak in the head from blood loss but he didn't stop his attacks. Naruto who had been blocking waited for an opening so he could counter attack. When Yoroi slowed down he ceased the opportunity and punched him right on the jaw and followed up with a kick to the head. Yoroi jumped backwards evading the kick but he didn't have the time to let his guard down.

Naruto quickly did some handseals and yelled out 'Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu' (1) and brought his hand to his mouth and exhaled. Ten small fireballs in the shape of small firefly's came out and attached them to Yoroi's body. Strange thing was that they didn't burn but no matter what he tried he couldn't put them out.

"It's no use trying to extinguish them. They're not normal fireballs. This is one of my original Jutsu's and it's called 'Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu'. I can make them explode one by one or all at the same time. Now I'll give you the chance to give up. I suggest you take that chance." Naruto said.

"I won't give up so easily. Even if your little jutsu works what kind of explosion can such a small fire do? Bring it on." Yoroi said certain that he could handle this jutsu.

Naruto sighed. Some people just didn't know when to give up. He brought up his arm and snapped two fingers detonating one of the firefly's. What followed was explosion that no of the bystanders had expected. Above the sound of the explosion they could hear the screams of Yoroi who was now holding his right arm. From the balcony everyone could clearly see the damage his arm had taken. It missed a significant chunk of flesh and seemed to be burned as well.

"Again, give up. Please I don't want to make the rest of them to explode too. Next time all nine of them will go off in one time." Naruto warned Yoroi.

Yoroi couldn't believe the kind of damage one explosion did, if he didn't give up he would surely be killed. He realized he had no choice and nodded to the referee indicating that he gave up. Naruto listened as Hayate called the match in his favor and let the remaining nine firefly's disappear glad that he didn't have to use them. He slowly turned around and made his way over to the stairs. He had won his match and he was very glad and satisfied even if he found the match a little disappointing.

* * *

'Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu': Sticky exploding firefly technique

This technique makes ten little fireballs shaped in the form of firefly's and attaches themselves to the body of the enemy. Naruto can make them explode from a distance (not to far) and can decide how many at a time. The explosion not only leave a large wound but also burns at the same time doubling the damage.

This marks the end of Chapter 15 but not to worry just click on next and chapter 16 is already waiting for you.


	16. Chapter 16: A pervert for a teacher?

I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

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Chapter 16: A pervert for a teacher?

When Naruto made his way back up to the balcony he found that the rest of the Konoha genin were strangely quiet. He had at least expected to be cheered on but apparently he believed wrong. But when he come up to them he saw them staring at him with their mouth wide open and he could see the shock on their faces. Anko was the first to go up to him and he hugged him congratulating him on a great fight and victory. Then one by one the others got over their shock and started to congratulate him as well.

Naruto told them that it was a very good match and that his opponent was strong but they could see that he didn't really mean it. They could tell that he was able to beat him without too much trouble and that he had held back. Anko bonked him on the head saying that he didn't show that jutsu to her before and he deserved to be punished. Naruto tried to tell her that he was entitled to some secrets but she wouldn't hear it. She thought that as his sensei she had viewing privileges before everybody else and so she wanted to see to jutsu beforehand. Everybody laughed when they saw Naruto's face taking on a look of pure disbelief that his sensei would want such a thing. Team 8 and Kurenai smiled at seeing the two of them fool around like that knowing that they were just teasing each other.

Ino and Sakura however were very curious about Naruto's new abilities so they decided to ask some questions. Ino had recovered from her fight with Sasuke just in time to see Naruto fight and she was shocked at seeing the so called death last of the year fighting so well. Sakura too was shocked, she always considered Naruto as weak and untalented but seeing his fight she now knew that he actually quite the opposite.

"Naruto, how did you get so strong? And did you really make that jutsu?" both of them asked Naruto.

"Euh, well I got strong by training and practicing with Anko sensei ever since I graduated from the academy. We spend six months training and after that we joined Team 8. We trained a lot and we got stronger together. As for the jutsu, yes I made it myself last month. This was actually the first time I used it in a fight. It took me some time before I got it just right though." Naruto said.

"But isn't making a jutsu really complicated? I mean how did you learn to make jutsu's? Surely somebody must have taught it to you?" Ino said with Sakura nodding her head in agreement.

"Naruto learned how to make jutsu on his own time. I brought him some books from the library and after that he started to experiment. You've seen the result a few minutes ago." Anko said proudly. She was very proud of Naruto and it showed on her beautiful face. Naruto nodded showing the truth of what Anko said.

Kakashi was listening to the conversation and wondered who would win if Sasuke and Naruto were to fight each other. While Sasuke had the Sharingan and was without a doubt very strong for a genin he had to admit that he believed Sasuke to lose against Naruto. Not because he was stronger or something like that but because Naruto was unpredictable in a fight. He had seen how Naruto acted and knew that this was far from being the best he could do. Naruto understood better than Sasuke that a shinobi fight wasn't about flashy moves or jutsu it was about skill and determination. And the fact that he could make his own jutsu was amazing to him. He wondered if Naruto would teach him that Katon jutsu. He wouldn't ask if he could copy it because it was a personal jutsu and that needed to be respected in his eyes. Copying other jutsu that already existed long ago weren't a problem to him since the original maker had long deceased or it was already widely known.

Shikamaru had been quiet but he too had a question. He wondered how Naruto had succeeded in cutting his enemy while he was out of range. When he voiced his question it was Asuma who answered it.

"That's because Naruto's chakra element is wind. Am I right?" Asuma said.

Naruto surprised that Asuma found this out so easily simply nodded.

"Don't worry Naruto, I only found out because I'm a wind element myself. I must say, you have excellent control for someone your age. It took me a long time before being able to do something like that. Makes me wonder what else you're capable of." Asuma said while lighting another cigarette.

Asuma then proceeded to tell the other genin about the chakra elements and that wind was the best element for offensive attacks. Especially long range attacks were mostly wind based attacks. He told them normally people from Konoha mostly had fire as their element but that something other elements were found as well. But wind was a rare element to appear in Konoha. He said that he didn't know anyone else but Naruto and himself that had wind as their element. He also explained that even when your element was for example fire that didn't mean that you couldn't use other element jutsu but only that Katon jutsu's would be easier to master than other.

While the genin had been talking about chakra elements and still recovering from their shock Neji had brutally defeated Sakura's other teammate. Neji wasted no time with the poor guy and attacked him straight from the beginning and seeing his opponent was still injured from the fights in the forest it didn't take long to win to win.

The rest of the fights went really fast and the only real exciting one was between Lee and Gaara which the sand shinobi won but Naruto was in awe of Lee's Taijutsu. He had no doubt in his mind that Lee was his superior in Taijutsu, he would have to spar him sometime if and when Lee had recovered from his injuries. The match had been very hard on the Konoha shinobi and he had taken some very serious injuries. Naruto hoped that he would be alright. Though the guy was loud and his green clothes were an eyesore he kind of liked the Taijutsu using shinobi.

Shikamaru had won his fight against the sound nin called Kin by using his intellect and his family jutsu. He had managed to capture her shadow and made her hit her head against the wall so hard she passed out. Before he would have found it troublesome to fight in the finals but ever since he talked to Naruto he had decided to become strong so he too could protect his future family.

Kankuro, the third Sand shinobi had won his fight by using his puppet to strangle his opponent. Naruto thought using dolls in a fight seemed kind of gay but hey in the end it worked. To each his own he guessed. Nonetheless Kankuro seemed to be very talented with his fighting style so Naruto wouldn't underestimate him.

Chouji unfortunately had to fight the remaining sound nin who showed no mercy to him. When Chouji used his family jutsu thinking he would be save from the sound attacks Dosu proved him wrong and won the match without hurting Chouji too much.

Kiba however got a free pass to the finals since he was the only one left. He was kind of pissed off because of that since he didn't get to fight or show his strengths. But Kurenai told him that he was the one with the big advantage since nobody had seen him fight or seen his fighting style. After that he cheered up a little knowing his sensei was right. Still he found it a bit unfair towards the other who had had to fight for their place in the finals but he knew that anyone could have been the one to get the free pass.

The 11 remaining genin were now standing in front of Hayate who started to explain what the finals would be like.

"Congratulations to those of you who reached the finals. We will now move on to the selection of the main matches in the finals. Each one of you will be drawing a number and those numbers will indicate who you will fight. So I will come to you and then you can draw a piece of paper from the box." Hayate said.

When Hayate stopped in front of him Naruto eagerly put his hand inside the box and pulled out a piece of paper with the number 6. So he would be in the third fight which sounded good to him. He definitely didn't want to go first.

"Alright this is the matchup for the finals." Hayate said pointing toward a board.

Everybody looked over to the board curious to find out who they would be fighting.

Match 1: Hyuuga Hinata VS Hyuuga Neji

Match 2: Uchiha Sasuke VS Sabaku no Kankuro

Match 3: Sabaku no Gaara VS Uzumaki Naruto

Match 4: Nara Shikamaru VS Sabaku no Temari

Match 5: Inuzuka Kiba VS Aburame Shino

Special match: Dosu VS winner fight 5

Naruto looked at the board not believing his bad luck that he would have to fight Gaara of all people. He already had a bad feeling about the boy and after seeing how he defeated Lee he wondered if he would be able to win. Forget winning he thought he wondered if he would survive. The fight with Lee had proven to Naruto that Gaara had no problems with causing serious injuries or even death. This would take some serious planning and preparation he realized.

Hinata too was cursing her luck when she saw who her opponent was. She knew the possibility of having to fight Neji was big but fighting him right from the start was just bad luck. She knew how much Neji despised her and that he wouldn't hold back (not that she wanted him too) for her but would he be able to forget those feelings of hate during the match? She was worried he would take it too far just to vent his anger and hate. But she wouldn't give up, no way would she give him the satisfaction of seeing her retreat. She was going to fight him with everything she got and she would show him and her father that she wasn't weak at all. It would also be a very good test for her Taijutsu style that she made, fighting another Hyuuga would show her how effective her style was so she was a little excited as well.

Shino and Kiba looked at the board and then to each other. When they caught the others eyes they started grinning, though they're teammates and friends there was a healthy rivalry going on between the two of them. They hadn't really fought each other except during training but those were only spars so that didn't count. Both of them knew this would be a very good match and that they wouldn't hold any grudges over the other. They planned to fight with everything they got since both of them respected the other too much not to give it their all.

"Alright now I will give back the word to Sandaime Hokage-sama who will give you your instructions for the finals." Hayate said.

"Thank you Hayate-san. The finals will be held in the battle stadium one month from now. There are several reasons why it will take a month to begin. First of all, all of you are tired and/or wounded so you need time to rest and heal. Also now that you know your opponent will be you can prepare for the fight. You have seen your opponent fight so you should be able to come up with a plan. The last reason is that we need time to invite the guest and they need to have the time to get here. I wish you all the luck you need and we will see each other in the battle stadium in one month. You are all dismissed." Sandaime said.

The genins all made it back up the balcony where their sensei's were waiting so they could guide them back to the village in safety. Naruto and Team 8 went over to Anko and Kurenai after saying their goodbye's to the rest promising them to meet later when they had some time off from training. The six of them then made it back to the village each of them more exhausted than the other. When they arrived at the village it was already getting late so they wished each other goodnight agreeing to discuss the finals the next day after getting some rest.

"Well done Naruto-kun. You and the team did an excellent job, Kurenai and I are so proud of you guys." Anko said when they arrived at her apartment. She walked up to him and grabbed him in a big hug before she kissed him. She had missed kissing him for 5 whole days and they had some catching up to do.

"Thanks Anko-chan, it's all thanks to your training I've got this strong. Without your help I wouldn't have gotten this far." Naruto said after breaking the kiss but still holding her close to him.

"You're very welcome Naruto-kun. Besides it will show great on my résumé that I trained the greatest Hokage in the history of Konoha." She said winking at him.

"I hope that one day there will be written 'wife of the greatest Hokage' on your résumé as well." Naruto said and he kissed her lovingly.

"I would like that as well, Naruto-kun." Anko said after she managed to catch her breath.

"For now 'girlfriend' will have to do though. But it's a start right?" Naruto said yawning a little showing how tired he was.

"That's fine with me. Now why don't we take a bath and then we can go to bed. The last few days have been stressful and tiring for both of us." Anko suggested.

Naruto happily agreed and they went to the bathroom longing for some relaxation and quiet time together. After they spend some time enjoying the hot bath they went to sleep, holding each other close and falling asleep as soon as they closed their eyes.

The next day they met up with Kurenai and Team 8 for lunch at Ichiraku's. Naruto had been allowed to chose what they would have for lunch so off course he chose ramen. After spending a enjoyable lunch they went over the training grounds and sat down so they could discuss the events from the past week. Kurenai and Anko wanted to do this so that the four of them would be able to think about mistakes (if they made any), or if there were things that they would do differently. This was important because it made them create new possibilities that might be handy some day.

"Alright, first Anko and I would like to say how proud we are of the four of you. Without a doubt you guys were one of the strongest teams out there and trust me when I say that several people were very impressed with the four of you." Kurenai said with a big and proud smile.

"That's right. Asuma, Kakashi and even the Hokage have told us how surprised they were of the progress you've made in this past year. You have made us very proud of being your sensei's. Now that being said, we want to hear your opinion on how you performed. So let's hear it." Anko said equally proud.

"Well, I believe we handled both tests very well. The first test was sort of individual but each of us trusted the other not to give up so in the end we did fine. For the second test, we actually made the right decision by concluding that the Mist team would target us because of Zabuza so we were prepared for them. Also when we attacked the Kumo team we did it efficiently and flawlessly as possible so my conclusion is that we took the best way possible for us." Shino said calmly like he had expected the question.

"Shino's right. We worked well together the whole time. Naruto with his Kage Bunshin scouting for us and backing us up, Hinata with her Byakugan checking the environment, Shino guarding the rear and Akamaru and I in front was an excellent formation that worked perfectly. It proved to be very useful and efficient." Kiba added his thoughts as well.

"We also made the right decision by going to the tower as soon as possible since we believed the third test to be individual fighting. We knew that if we stayed in the forest too long we could have been defeated or injured and that would have jeopardized our chances to get into the third test." Hinata said.

"Looking back now I too believe we made the right decisions at the right time. We thought about everything and acted accordingly, the planning we made before the exam was very useful and saved us many time and trouble once the exam started." Naruto said finishing the four genins explanations.

Kurenai and Anko agreed that the four of them had showed an excellent example of teamwork, preparation and had come up with a good plan which gave them the best chances to succeed in the mission. They told them that a Chuunin would need those qualities and that they had shown everyone that they were ready to pass on to the next level. Next they asked the team if their thoughts on the finals and their opponents.

"My match with Gaara will be the ultimate test to see how strong I have become in the past year. It will take everything I have to defeat Gaara, of that I'm sure. He's strong, intelligent and that sand of his will be a major problem. I don't have the speed Lee has so I'll need something else to get through his defenses. Then there's the fact that his sand is both offensive and defensive so I'll need to be extra careful not to get hit while I'm attacking. I have been thinking about how to fight him but I haven't come up with much yet but one things is sure I need to get faster and stronger if I want to have a chance." Naruto said.

"We'll focus on speed training and strength training but honestly with only month there won't be very much we can do. Speed and strength training takes time and the results only show after lots of work." Anko said looking a little worried.

"I know but we don't have a choice. Anyway I have a few jutsu in mind that might be effective against him but they will need some modifications. I won't go down without a fight. Even if I lose, he won't escape that easily." Naruto said convinced that he could at least give Gaara a hard time.

"Very well Naruto, we know that if anyone has a chance of defeating him it's you. How about you Hinata? Any idea's how to defeat Neji?" Kurenai asked.

"Honestly, I had hoped to evade Neji as long as possible but that's impossible now. I will concentrate on my further developing my Taijutsu and making my body as flexible as possible. Also, like Naruto I need some speed training since I know Neji is faster than me. Chances that I win the fight are slim but I'll show him and my dad how strong I have become. Win or lose, I'll show them that the Jyuken isn't the only way for a Hyuuga to fight." Hinata said with sheer determination.

"Well said Hinata. There's no doubt in my mind that Neji will have a much harder time then he will have predicted. You'll have the element of surprise and it will be important to take advantage of that. If you can surprise him he will be troubled and that will be your cue to attack. I suggest you practice both your style and the Jyuken this month. I will spar with you as much as I can, that way you will be somewhat used to high speed attacks." Kurenai said encouraging her student.

"How about the two of you? Any ideas?" Anko asked Kiba and Shino.

"Shino and I have decided to train with our families the whole month. The reason is that since were teammates we know each other techniques already but in this month we could learn some new techniques from our clan. That would give us a chance to surprise the other and it might make the match very exciting." Kiba said for the both of them.

"Good idea. If you train together now you'll knew what your opponent will use during the match. Very well everyone, since we have only one month we'll have to work hard and long but we'll become stronger shinobi. Now Anko will mainly focus on Naruto's training and since Shino and Kiba will train with their clan I will focus on Hinata but this doesn't mean that you can't come to us if you have questions. We'll meet again here in two weeks to spend some time together." Kurenai said getting up. She and Anko had a meeting with the Hokage in a half hour so they needed to get going.

"I have to go now, Naruto-kun. We have a meeting with Hokage-sama about what happened in the forest. I'll see you tonight okay. I love you." Anko whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Okay Anko-chan, see you tonight. I love you too." Naruto whispered back.

Naruto said his goodbye's to his friends and they promised to train hard and meet here in two weeks time to have some fun. Naruto was now walking around the village while thinking about his future fight with Gaara. He wondered around the village until he passed the hotspring where he saw a figure peeking into the women's bath. Naruto quietly got closer trying to confront the pervert since he knew Anko and Kurenai liked to spend some time in the hotspring as well as many kunoichi. He thought about a minute searching to fight the best way to engage this peeping tom and then a small but slightly evil smile crept onto his face. Anko had told him about a forbidden technique that was the ultimate punishment for any male pervert. He made his way over towards the man who he was too busy giggling and ogling at the women to notice the danger that slowly but surely got closer.

Naruto now stood behind the pervert and crouched and put his hands together with both his index fingers pointed outwards. In one fast move he plunged his fingers into the man's behind while yelling out 'Konoha Taijutsu Hiden: Sennen goroshi'. The next moment he saw how the man just shot up into the air, over the fence right into the women's bath. Naruto blinked and winced when he heard the screams and pleas for mercy and forgiveness from the man. He didn't feel any remorse though the man had deserved any bit of pain those women could inflict on him. Just then a bloody and beaten man was projected over the fence into the bushes. Naruto went over to check if the man had survived or if he would have to bring him to the hospital.

"Are you still alive? Need some help?" Naruto said while poking the man in the ribs with his foot.

"Hahaha, this is nothing to the greatest of all men." The man with the long white hair said while getting up. Naruto was surprised since all the man's previous wounds seem to have disappeared.

"The greatest of men? And you need to spy on women? You're just a pervert nothing more if you ask me." Naruto said doubting the man.

"I'm not a pervert. I'm a super pervert." The man said.

"Right. That's even worse than before. Being a pervert is nothing to be proud of you know?" Naruto said not believing someone would be proud to be a pervert.

"You stupid gaki! Being a pervert is a way of life. To appreciate the beauty of women, to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh is the only way a man should live but then again I guess a gaki like yourself wouldn't be able to understand those things." The man answered starting to piss Naruto off.

"I'm not a gaki, you pervert. I'm a proud shinobi of the Leaf and the future Hokage as well. " Naruto said not believing this man could piss him off enough to start yelling like he used to do.

"Future Hokage huh? Tell me kid, where did you learn that horrible technique that you used on me. I can't believe that it still exist." The man said while becoming a little more interested in the young shinobi in front of him.

"My sensei told me it is the ultimate jutsu against perverts like you. She also said that every kunoichi in Konoha knows how to use it." Naruto said.

"Damn that Tsunade and her evil technique! I should have known that she would teach it to others." He said while grinding his teeth.

"Tsunade? You know one of the legendary Sannin? I find that hard to believe?" Naruto said.

"Off course I know Tsunade and the legendary Sannin. I'm one of them. I'm the toad Sannin Jiraiya." The man said introducing himself while doing a little dance.

"You're that Jiraiya? The Jiraiya that taught my dad?" Naruto said now getting more and more excited at meeting the pervert. He couldn't believe his luck. This was the man that taught his father when he was a genin. Maybe the man would help him train as well.

"Your dad? Tell me gaki, what is your name?" Jiraiya said already having a good idea who this kid was.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina." Naruto said proudly. Every time he spoke of his parent he felt very proud of them.

"I see. Now that you mention that you do look a lot like your parents. They were some of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. You can be proud of them." Jiraiya said looking at Naruto.

"So you did teach my dad when he was just a genin? He mentioned your name in his book on seals and wrote that you taught him a lot about them." Naruto asked impatiently.

"Yeah gaki, your dad was my best student. He was talented like no other shinobi I have ever met in my life. He was without a doubt one of those shinobi you only see once in a lifetime." Jiraiya said while remembering those times. He looked at Naruto and his was kind of surprised how strong and mature the kid actually looked. He wondered how much of Minato's genius the kid had inherited. Judging by his first impressions he had to conclude that the kid actually looked very talented. He decided to stick around a bit and talk to the son of his prized disciple.

"So tell me gaki, how did you know about your parents. I doubt Sarutobi sensei told you about them." Jiraiya asked.

Naruto then told Jiraiya about how he had gotten a scroll from his dad which explained everything about him and his mother, the Kyuubi and their final mission for him. He also told how his dad had included the notes for his jutsu's and that he had managed to master one of them already. He didn't tell which one though, he figured that if the man wanted to know he would ask him. Jiraiya listened to Naruto's explanation but when he heard Naruto saying that he had mastered one of his dad's jutsu he seemed to be a bit skeptical. Those jutsu were A-rank of higher, there was no way a young shinobi could master those moves. Still he decided to ask for proof, you never know right?

"Really? You mastered one of his moves? Care to show me what jutsu you have learned?" Jiraiya said doubting he would see something remotely like Minato's jutsu.

"Guess you don't believe me huh? No matter, I'll show you ero-sennin." Naruto said smirking. He would enjoy this he thought. The look on the man's face will be worth the trouble. He then held out his hand and started concentrating and not a second later a perfect Rasengan formed in his hand.

Jiraiya who was expecting anything but a perfect Rasengan just stood there shocked that the young boy performed a technique like the Rasengan at such a young age. Not only did it look perfect in execution, it also looked strong enough to compete with his own version. This boy was anything short of amazing he realized.

"You mastered the Rasengan! How long did it take for you to master it?" Jiraiya asked Naruto with his eyes wide from shock.

"Euh, well the actual learning took me month but I have trained for months on chakra control and thus it was easier to accomplish. Also the note's dad left me helped me a lot too. When I could do it to a certain level my Jounin sensei allowed me to use Kage Bunshin to master it." Naruto said.

'A month!? It took Minato three years to develop and master it. And I had to spend several months to master it.' Jiraiya thought to himself. The Rasengan was an A-rank jutsu that would be impossible for most people to learn and this kid did it in one month.

"Kid, I can honestly say that this was far more than anything I had ever expected." Jiraiya said praising Naruto.

"Don't tell Sandaime Ji-chan though. He doesn't know that I mastered it, I'll show him during the finals of the Chuunin exam." Naruto asked Jiraiya.

"Not to worry kid, I won't tell anything. So what else did you learn?" Jiraiya said to Naruto.

"Well, I started on the Hiraishin and made some excellent progress on developing the necessary seals but I'll still need time to form the correct order to put them in." Naruto said.

"Yeah, your dad had a very hard time doing those things as well. Don't worry you'll get it eventually. So you're competing in the Chuunin exam? What's your opponent like?" Jiraiya said actually getting excited by Naruto's abilities.

Naruto then told him about who he had to fight and just how strong Gaara really was. He told Jiraiya about how Gaara had beaten Lee very badly by using his sand and how he was a little worried since he didn't know how to fight him. He told him about how Gaara's sand was both offensive and defensive, so that he would have to find a way to defeat that.

"So, you were wondering around trying to come up with a plan to defeat this Gaara?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah but so far I haven't really thought of something. It's really frustrating you know?" Naruto sighed. He had been thinking for some time now on how to beat Gaara but no ideas formed in his head. It was like his mind and brain refused to help him. It started to piss him off too.

"How about I teach you something? I owe it to your dad to help you out a little. Besides if I help you I can say that I helped train two Hokage's, imagine how the ladies would react hearing that." Jiraiya said with a small perverted smile on his face.

"Really? You would help me? Thanks Ero-sennin, this will be great." Naruto exclaimed. This would help him a lot he realized. Pervert or not the guy was one of the legendary Sannin, so he was bound to know some really good jutsu or something that could help him become stronger.

"Ero-sennin? The hell gaki? What did I do to deserve such a name?" Jiraiya yelled.

"You're a pervert and the toad sennin so together that becomes ero-sennin. Now what will you teach me?" Naruto said trying to find out what he was learning.

"Fine, come with me." Jiraiya said to Naruto while muttering something about brats who didn't respect their elders. He lead Naruto to a large open space away from the village. He figured he could teach the kid how to summon toads seeing as he was the carrier for the contract. Naruto followed still wondering what he was going to learn. Jiraiya took him to a large clearing just outside the village where they had plenty of space to practice away from the prying eyes of the villagers and fellow shinobi.

"Tell me Gaki, what do you know about summoning?" Jiraiya asked.

"Summoning? Well, I know that you, Tsunade and Snake face each have a different summon. You have toads, Tsunade has slugs and Snake face has snakes. I also know from Jichan that he has the Ape summon and that Anko has the snake contract as well." Naruto finished.

"That's right Gaki, now your dad had the Toad summon as well. Did you know that?" Jiraiya said while raising an eyebrow at Naruto nickname for Orochimaru.

"Yeah, I knew that." Naruto said . Who didn't know about his dad and Gamabunta? It was like common knowledge for all Konoha shinobi. They had special history lessons about the Fourth after all. It was also one of the only lessons where Naruto truly paid attention since the Yondaime had been his hero for years.

"Would you like a chance to have the same contract as your dad?" Jiraiya asked already knowing the answer. He recognized a lot of Minato's behavior in Naruto. It was like a trip to the past for him. It made him somewhat happy and sad at the same time.

"Are you kidding me Ero-sennin? What do you think? Off course I would like that." Naruto said while getting excited at the thought of being able to summon toads. Never had he thought of one day having such a opportunity. Only a idiot would refuse such a honor and Naruto wasn't a idiot.

Jiraiya smiled and told Naruto to back up a little which he promptly did. Seeing Naruto had taken some distance Jiraiya bit his thumb, drawing some blood and started the necessary handseals and then slammed his hand into the ground yelling out 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'. Naruto watched as a large cloud of smoke filled the area waiting patiently for the smoke to disappear. When he finally was able to see what Jiraiya had summoned he grinned already imagining the kind of things he would be able to do.

Jiraiya had summoned a large toad easily twice the size of Naruto and stood on his back looking down at Naruto knowing he had impressed the kid. This was the kind of reaction he had hoped for, hopefully now the kid would stop calling him ero-sennin. 'Really, kids these days have no respect for their elders' he thought.

"What do say now Gaki? Admit your impressed right?" Jiraiya said.

"I'm impressed but you're still ero-sennin to me, ero-sennin." Naruto said trying to annoy Jiraiya. In truth though he was very impressed by summoning, sure he had seen Anko summon some of her snakes before but this was different. Toads were impressive and this one seemed to be strong enough to kick his ass.

"Dammit Gaki, show me some respect will you!" Jiraiya said while tears run from his eyes.

"Respect is earned, not given but fine I'm very impressed okay?" Naruto said.

"Fair enough Gaki, now come here so you can sign the contract." Jiraiya said satisfied that he at least impressed the blond shinobi.

Naruto made his way over to the toad and Jiraiya eager to sign the contract. The toad dropped a large scroll and unrolled it while Jiraiya said that Naruto would have to sign his name in blood. Naruto nodded and took off one glove and made a small cut in his thumb. He then wrote his name on the scroll just next to where his dad had signed it as well. Naruto felt really good and proud about himself, he didn't want to become a complete copy of his dad but he felt like he was following in his footsteps. After signing the contract the scroll was sealed again and given back to the big toad. He looked at Jiraiya for further instructions. Jiraiya told him the necessary seals and waited curious what kind of toad Naruto would be able to summon.

"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" Naruto yelled after doing the handseals and slamming his hand on the ground. Just like Jiraiya a cloud of smoke appeared and both Naruto and Jiraiya tried to see through it. They were impatient to see who he had summoned. After a few seconds the smoke disappeared and revealed a small toad the size of Akamaru.

"Yow, do you have a treat?" The small toad asked Naruto while sticking out his paw.

"Euh, no I don't. I'm sorry I didn't know you wanted a treat." Naruto said amused. This toad looked like a fun guy, maybe they could become friends.

"No problem, just asking. The name is Gamakichi by the way. Are you the one who summoned me?" Gamakichi said introducing himself.

"Nice to meet you Gamakichi. I'm Naruto and yes I'm the one who summoned you." Naruto said starting to like the energetic little toad.

While Naruto and Gamakichi were talking and introducing each other Jiraiya stood by the side and observed both of them. He wouldn't tell Naruto but he was secretly impressed since Naruto had succeeded in summoning on his first try. He had expected Naruto to summon a tadpole or something like that but not a young toad like Gamakichi. 'Minato, Kushina the two of you can be proud of your son. He's strong and has a good head on his shoulders." He thought smiling.

"Well done, Naruto. Not bad for a first summon. Gamakichi, could you tell your dad about Naruto signing the contract? Tell him he's the Yondaime's legacy and he'll understand. " Jiraiya said addressing the toad. Gamakichi nodded and told Naruto goodbye and asked him to summon him once in a while to play. Naruto smiled and said that he would definitely do that.

"Gaki, I suppose that since you know about your parents you'll also know about the Kyuubi." Jiraiya asked.

"Off course I know about the Kyuubi. I have known it since the day I graduated from the academy." Naruto said wondering why Jiraiya was interested in the Kyuubi.

"Then you must know that the Kyuubi could provide you with a lot of chakra and strength. You should learn how to control and use that chakra." Jiraiya said.

"No, I refuse. There's no way I'll ever use that chakra." Naruto said.

"Gaki, it would make you stronger than everyone. It would be foolish not to profit from this." Jiraiya said not really understanding why Naruto was against this. The Kyuubi's chakra would make Naruto so much stronger.

"Ero-sennin, for as long as I can remember the villagers have hated me because of the Kyuubi. One of my dreams is to be acknowledged as me and not as the Kyuubi child or demon child. If I start using that chakra then there's no way they'll ever accept me. Besides I don't need the Kyuubi's chakra to become strong, my dad didn't have the Kyuubi and he become one of the strongest shinobi in the history of the Leaf. If he can do it on his own than so can I. I will prove to everyone that you don't need a Kekkei Genkai to be strong just like my dad did before me." Naruto said with conviction to Jiraiya.

"Huh, you're just like your dad. Did you know he told me the exact same words when I started training him. Very well, I won't tell you how to life your life and I actually respect and understand your choice very well. But if you ever change your mind about it, let me know." Jiraiya said.

"I won't change my mind. I never go back on my words so you might as well forget that idea. And I made a promise to Anko-chan never to rely on anything but my own strength." Naruto answered.

After talking a bit about things like jutsu's, summoning and shinobi stuff Naruto thanked Jiraiya for allowing him to sign the toad contract. Jiraiya said that it was no problem at all and that if he needed help in his training all he had to do was summon Gamakichi and ask give him a message. He explained that summons could be used to rely messages and the like. He also told him that he would be around for a while so if he wanted they could meet once or twice during the next month. Naruto eagerly accepted the offered help and promised that if he needed something he would contact him. Feeling much better about himself he went home realizing that it was already late and that training would have to wait until tomorrow. He didn't find a way to fight and defeat Gaara but still he was very content about how the day had played out.

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This ends Chapter 16 of 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'

I hope you all enjoyed it so far. Next chapter will be released on Sunday the 11th of May

Chapter 17: A friend in need is a friend indeed

See you guys next week


	17. Chapter 17: A friend in need is a friend

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everybody, how are you guys doing? For my part I'm getting stressed. Exams, studying and so much more going on at the moment. Well, we'll get through it somehow won't we?

Last week I asked if I should start posting my Harry Potter story since I won't have time to write during my exams (got to pass them no matter what) and I decided to start posting it in two weeks time. Hope everyone who reads it enjoys it as much as they enjoy my Naruto story.

Again thanks to all the people who reviewed and PM'd me with their comments or remarks.

Here's Chapter 17 I hope you like it.

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Chapter 17: A friend in need is a friend indeed

Two weeks had passed since Naruto had encountered Jiraiya and learned how to summon. Naruto was now on his way to meet up with the rest of Team 8 like they had promised. He was impatient to see them again and wondered how much stronger they had gotten. He had been training on speed and trying to find a way to deal with Gaara's sand. After a brainstorm session he had come up with some kind of plan but a lot would depend on luck. He would also have to find a way to alter one of his jutsu's just for that but this was one thing he was planning to do anyway. He just didn't expect having to do it in a month and so far he had come up empty handed. He also worked on improving his stamina because he would have to evade the sand for a long time so that would very tiring. Arriving at the training place he saw that Kiba and Akamaru where already there so he quickly made his way over.

"Hey Naruto, how have you been?" Kiba asked while Naruto petted Akamaru on the head.

"Hey Kiba, I'm fine. Training is going well I guess. How about your training?" Naruto said glad to see his friend again.

"Akamaru and I have been training like crazy but it's going as good as it can be I think." Kiba said reflecting on his training for the past two weeks.

'Yeah, I'm sure you'll be stronger by the time of the finals. Still kind of sucks that you and Shino have to face each other in the first round already." Naruto said.

"Don't worry about it Naruto. Kiba and I will give it our all and no hard feelings afterwards. Right Kiba?" Shino said from behind both of Naruto and Kiba startling both of them.

"Shino, don't do that. You scared the hell out of me, when did you get here." Kiba exclaimed holding his hand over his heart. Naruto nodded indicating that he too had been surprised by Shino's sudden arrival.

"A shinobi should never let their guard down." Shino simply said.

"Have any of you seen Hinata? I wonder how her training is going?"Naruto asked curious about his teammate.

"I haven't seen her but Kurenai sensei told me that she's doing great in her training. She also said that Hinata had made two new friends recently." Kiba said.

"Two new friends? Wonder who that could be." Naruto said glad that Hinata had made some friends of her own. She was always to shy in his opinion. She had changed a lot in these past few months and she had really opened up to the rest of Team 8 but around other people she still was a little shy.

"Look over there and you'll have the answer you're looking for." Kiba said pointing towards the entrance of the training field.

Naruto looked at where Kiba was pointing and saw Hinata talking and laughing with not only Ino but also Sakura. From where he was standing they were laughing and having a good time and Naruto couldn't be happier for the three of them. The fact that the three of them seemed to get along pretty well would benefit all of them in his opinion. Sakura and Ino would become a little more serious about training and they would pull Hinata with them on some of those female things only.

"Hey you three, you seem to have a good time." Naruto said.

"How have you been Naruto-kun? How's your training going? I bet you have become much stronger already." Hinata said. She knew that Naruto always performed best when he was pressured.

"Training is going ok I guess. Hopefully I'll be ready to face Gaara. How about you Hinata? Will you be ready to fight Neji?" Naruto said knowing that Hinata was slightly worried about fighting her cousin.

"I'm sure that you'll do fine Naruto-kun. According to Kurenai sensei my speed has gone up a little but it still need a lot of work. No worries though I'll show him that I can be strong as well." Hinata said confidently.

"We all know how strong you are Hinata, just show him and your dad what you're made off." Kiba said certain that she would give Neji a run for his money.

"Sure thing, you can count on me. I brought Sakura and Ino with me so we can all spend some time together. You guys don't mind do you?" Hinata said. She had been spending some time with both girls and they had been getting along just fine. She hoped that they all could become friends.

"Off course we don't mind Hinata. Sakura and Ino are welcome to join us, in fact we should have invited everyone to begin with. Maybe we could meet again next week?" Naruto said enthusiastically. He always wanted to have lots of friends ever since he started at the academy. They would be fellow shinobi so it would be good if they all got along and trusted each other.

"N-Naruto, I still need to apologize for everything I said and done to you in the past." Sakura said softly. Ino nodded as well.

"Stop it both of you. The past is in the past so leave it there." Naruto said waving of their apology. He learned a long time to forgive and forget about such things. There were much more important things in life than childish arguments and stuff like that.

"But still I need to.." Sakura started.

"Look, if you really want to apologize then become the best kunoichi that you can become. That will be your way of apologizing okay?" Naruto interrupted her.

Both Sakura and Ino nodded and after that they started to talk amongst each other about the past year and about their teammates. Sakura and Ino told them about the missions they had done and Team 8 told about their mission to the Wave and how they fought Zabuza and Haku. At the end of the story both Sakura and Ino sat there with their jaw almost on the ground, their missions were nothing like that they realized. No wonder the four of them had grown up so much and gotten so strong.

"Wow, the most we did was fighting some thugs and bandits. Even then when we encountered some shinobi they were low level or our sensei took care of them." Sakura said impressed.

"Well, Kurenai and Anko sensei didn't have much choice then to let us fight. Zabuza and Haku were very strong opponents after all." Kiba said trying not to sound too arrogant.

"Sakura can I ask you something? What happened in the forest after the sound shinobi fled?" Naruto asked curiously. He had noticed some changes in Sakura's behavior at the end of the second task. He saw Sakura getting nervous and quickly told her that she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to but she shook her head and told him that it was alright.

"After you and the rest left the three of us needed some time to recover from our injuries so we set up camp by the river. We decided to stay there for a while gathering our strength back." Sakura started explaining. The rest of them could tell that she wasn't comfortable talking about it so Hinata took a seat next to her and put her hand on Sakura's shoulder showing her support.

"Sasuke however didn't want to rest, instead he wanted to fight but none of us was in any condition to do so. It took all of my strength to stay standing at that point." Sakura remembered those moments with a little shame. If only she had been stronger she thought.

"He began to yell at us for being losers and weaklings, saying that the only thing we did was holding him back from reaching his goal and killing him. He warned us that if he didn't pass the second task because of us, we would regret it." She started shaking a little. Naruto was listening to her story and was thinking how he would kick Sasuke's ass when he saw him. The rest of them thought about the same thing.

"I had never seen Sasuke like that before, it was like he was a whole other person. He really scared me and I have been keeping my distance from him ever since." Sakura finishing her story about what had happened in the forest.

"Sakura, don't listen to Sasuke. You're not a weakling and you're definitely not a loser. Tell me, what do you know about Sasuke's past?" Naruto asked her. He felt the need to explain to Sakura and the rest about what had happened with Sasuke when he was younger. Both Ino and Sakura needed to understand that Sasuke wasn't the little prince everyone thought he was. If they wanted to become strong they would have to overcome their obsession with him.

When they told him that they didn't really know much about Sasuke and his past except that he was the only Uchiha left he nodded and started to tell them about how Sasuke's brother Itachi had killed his whole clan except Sasuke several years ago. The fact that Itachi had told Sasuke to become strong so he could have his revenge messed with Sasuke's head and made him what he was today. Naruto carefully chose his words since he knew that both of them had a crush on Sasuke. He continued that the death of his family and how the village adored him for his bloodline had made Sasuke arrogant and hungry for power.

"Then there's the seal that Orochimaru gave him in the forest. That's not a normal seal, it's a seal that grants the user a huge power but at a terrible cost." Naruto finished.

"What do you mean with 'a terrible cost'?" Ino asked softy. In the past few minutes she had learned more about Sasuke then before. She thought it was horrible for a young boy to lose his whole family at the hands of his own brother.

"The seal is addictive and each time you use it, it will eat away at your soul and try to influence you to do things you don't want to do." Naruto finished sadly. Anko had told him about people like Sasuke. They were the kind of people who would sell their soul to the devil if it meant that they would become stronger.

"So if Sasuke doesn't use the seal's power he will be back to the old Sasuke?" Sakura asked hopefully.

"Sakura, think about it for a second. When he activated the seal in the forest he felt the power from the seal and for someone like Sasuke who is always looking for power it's too good to ignore." Naruto said softly. He hated to ruin Sakura's hope but she needed to know this he realized. The sooner she understood what kind of person Sasuke is the better.

"Naruto is right Sakura and you know it as well as we do. We can only hope that the suppression seal that Kakashi placed on him will hold. But that seal depends on Sasuke's willpower." Anko said as she and Kurenai had arrived as well since they had a small break. They were very busy with preparations for the finals and securing the village as well. On top of that they had to help Naruto and Hinata train so their schedules were filled to the maximum.

"Anko sensei, Kurenai sensei nice seeing you again." Ino said politely. She had heard a lot about both of them from her own sensei Asuma. He had told her that they were two of the strongest kunoichi in the village at this time.

Anko and Kurenai greeted all of them and joined the discussion. Sakura and Ino listened at Anko's explanation and became somewhat sad that someone like Sasuke had to go through all this pain because of his brother. Anko then told them that while Itachi had a big influence on Sasuke ultimately he was responsible for his own life and that he could have a lot more friendly instead of become a solitary loner who was distant from everybody.

"We can't just give up on Sasuke just because of this seal." Sakura said with some tears in her eyes.

"Who said anything about giving up on him? We take care of our own and Sasuke is one of us no matter how much of an ass he is." Naruto said trying to calm the girl down.

"The only thing we want to do is warn you about him so you can be prepared in case something happens." Kurenai added.

"Besides, can you actually say Sasuke is a good teammate or friend? He's a fellow shinobi but he surely isn't a friend." Kiba said trying to add his thoughts.

"Kiba is right Sakura. Remember how you told me that Sasuke never helped you in all this time nor has he ever acted as a friend. We're only trying to help you from getting hurt." Hinata said softly.

"We're not trying to say who you can or can't like but we only want you to think about why you like that person and if he's worth the trouble and heartache." Naruto said knowing that both girls thought the world of Sasuke.

Ino and Sakura nodded saying that they understood what everyone was trying to say and promised to do some thinking on the subject. Both girls had been shocked at how Sasuke had reacted in the forest and during the preliminaries. This would require lot of soul searching they realized since both had been infatuated with the Uchiha for years. This would make getting rid of those feelings very hard for both of them.

The six genin spend the whole afternoon talking and discussing things like training, the finals and what they wanted in life. They told each other their dreams and hopes for the future. Suddenly Ino excused herself saying that she needed to visit Chouji who was admitted at the hospital after eating too much. The rest of the genin laughed at how typical this seemed to be for Chouji who's world revolved around eating. When Ino mentioned the hospital Naruto remembered about how badly Lee had been injured and how he was sure to be staying at the hospital as well. He felt bad about not visiting Lee until now since he had gotten to know the spandex wearing shinobi quite well during the days before the preliminaries so he too stood up and told everyone that he was going to pay both Chouji and Lee a visit as well.

"That's an excellent idea, Naruto-kun. Why don't we all go together?" Hinata said. She had been enjoying her afternoon very much and visiting Lee and Chouji would be a very nice ending of a wonderful day. She too felt bad about both of them especially about Lee who was gravely injured during his fight with Gaara. As she remembered the fight between Gaara and Lee she couldn't help but feel worried about Naruto, she really hoped Naruto would be okay. Even if her feelings about Naruto had changed she still liked him as a teammate and close friend.

Everybody thought that it was a really good idea and they made their way over to the hospital happily chatting and laughing along the way. A lot of people raised an eyebrow went they passed or saw the group of genin talking and having a good time like they didn't have a care in world. When they reached the hospital they met up with Shikamaru who had planned to visit Chouji as well seeing as he was his best friend ever since they were young. Since they were now such a large group they decided to split up and while the girls would first visit Chouji, the guys would go see Lee and then they would switch.

After asking where Lee's room was Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru and Naruto quietly went in search for the room. They had been warned not to make too much noise and not to disturb Lee for too long since he still needed lot's of rest. After searching for about a minute Shino motioned that he had found Lee's room and quietly opened the door. When they entered the room they were greeted with a scene that none of them had ever expected. Next to a sleeping Lee stood Gaara with a murderous smile on his face, Lee's body was covered in sand and it seemed like the sand was crushing him. The four genin immediately took action to save their comrade's life, Shikamaru used his shadow to trap Gaara so he couldn't move anymore while Shino and Kiba jumped in front of Lee ready to protect him. Naruto just appeared in front of Gaara and punched him as hard as he could in the face.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto said trying to calm himself down so he wouldn't engage the sand shinobi here and there. Gaara stumbled back a little from the sheer force of the punch. Unfortunately Shikamaru who had Gaara trapped stumbled as well since he was connected to Gaara.

"I'm proving my existence." Gaara simply said not even nervous about the fact that he was facing four genin.

"What's that supposed to mean? " Kiba yelled loudly. He was really nervous about this guy since Naruto told him how he felt about him. If Naruto who wasn't afraid of anything was wary about this guy then he would have to be very careful. He had also seen him defeat Lee so he knew how strong Gaara was.

"I prove my existence by killing." Gaara simply replied. He seemed completely unfazed by the thought of killing.

"Why? It can't be about revenge since you won the fight. So what's your reason for wanting to kill Lee?" Shikamaru asked trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.

"Revenge? I don't care about revenge or anything like that. I just want to kill him that's all." Gaara said.

"That's all? Do you understand what you're talking about?" Naruto said feeling more and more anger toward the redhead.

"If you think of stopping me from killing him then I will not hesitate to kill you guys as well." Gaara remarked while staring and unleashing an amount of killer intent at the four of them. The four Konoha genin couldn't believe what they were hearing. Here was a guy who wanted to kill an injured comrade of theirs and he would go so far as killing them if they hindered him.

"What kind of monster are you?" Kiba said when he felt the killer intent hit him. This was even worse than when they faced Zabuza for the first time.

"Monster? I guess you're right, I was born a monster when I took the life of the woman who was supposed to be my mother. To Suna I'm a mistake from their past that they want to get rid of. Ever since my six birthday my father had send assassin after assassin trying to get me killed." Gaara said while trying to move out of Shikamaru's shadow bind.

"Why would your own father do such a thing?" Kiba asked perplexed. He couldn't imagine how it must feel knowing that your own dad is trying to kill you.

"I carry a monster inside me, they tried to make me their weapon but once they saw I was outside of their control they tried to get rid of me, it simple as that." Gaara shrugged.

Naruto was shocked when he heard the Gaara's words about carrying a monster inside him. Was this boy a Jinchuuriki like he was? If so than what kind of life must Gaara have had to make him so twisted and psychological imbalanced? Naruto couldn't believe that Gaara's own father made a Jinchuuriki out of his own son just for power. His dad had at least done it because he had no other choice to save the village. What kind of father would do that willingly to his own son he thought.

Kiba and Shino had about the same reaction Naruto and realized this was a very bad situation. If Gaara lost control than the shit would hit the fan pretty quick. They wondered how Naruto would react to Gaara being a Jinchuuriki like himself. Somehow it seemed foolish to think that Naruto was the only with a demon sealed inside him but none of them had ever thought about it.

"You and me are a lot alike, more than you'll ever know. Like you I'm hated and feared in this village but not once in my life have they tried to get me killed. It was hard wasn't it. The loneliness, the feeling that nobody want you, the pain of being rejected in everything you try to do. I know that pain very well, I know it so well that it actually hurt while I'm saying this but you're wrong Gaara. Killing people like that only proves them right." Naruto said softly.

Gaara's eye's went wide when he hurt the pain in Naruto's voice and when he looked him in the eyes he recognized the same pain he saw every morning in the mirror. If this boy was telling the truth than he was carrying a demon inside him as well. How was it possible that Naruto seemed so normal, like his demon didn't have any influence what so ever. He needed to know what the boy's secret was.

"How do you resist it? How do you ignore the stares and the hate?" Gaara demanded from Naruto.

"It's simple, I resist thanks to my precious people. I fight to protect them from harm and that makes me stronger." Naruto said looking Gaara straight in the eyes. He wanted to show Gaara a way out of all the killing and hate.

"Prove it. When we fight show me how strong you are and we'll see who's right then. The one standing at the end is right." Gaara said before breaking free of Shikamaru's jutsu. He ordered his sand back into his gourd and disappeared leaving Naruto and the rest alone with an injured Lee.

The four of them just sat down on the floor trying to catch their breath after such an intense conversation. Shikamaru was looking at Naruto and he was starting to connect the dots by what he had heard. He knew that Naruto wasn't well liked by the villagers and by some shinobi but he didn't realize that things were that bad. He always was curious why Naruto was treated that way and now he seemed to have heard and seen something that might explain everything to him. Gaara carried a demon or monster inside him and Naruto told him that they were much alike. So did that mean that Naruto too carried a demon? He thought back and the only demon he could think of that actually tried to destroy Konoha was the Kyuubi but that was impossible since the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi years ago.

Then again maybe it was covered up and instead of killing the Kyuubi he sealed it away and thus saving the village at the cost of his own life. That had to be it, now that he thought about it there's absolutely no way a mortal could defeat a demon no matter how strong they are. But why keep it a secret? If Naruto did have the Kyuubi sealed inside him than he would be saving Konoha every day of his life.

'Off course, people are idiots and they would only see the Kyuubi instead of Naruto.' He thought. 'They would be afraid that the Kyuubi would get free or they would remember their fallen family and friends and take it out on the child carrying the demon.' Shikamaru sighed, this was way too troublesome to his liking.

"Guess you figured it out huh Shikamaru?" Naruto said.

"So it's true? You carry the Kyuubi inside you. Why weren't we informed of this?" Shikamaru said without any malice. He really didn't care about this. To him Naruto was Naruto, nothing more nothing less.

Naruto nodded and started to tell Shikamaru about how he found out about the Kyuubi, his parents and everything else. He felt like he could trust Shikamaru not to repeat his secret to anyone without his permission. He reminded Shikamaru also that everything he told him was an S-class secret and if he told anyone he would be severely punished. After saying everything he wanted or needed to say Naruto got up waiting for Shikamaru's reaction.

"This is so troublesome. Naruto, you can relax your secret is safe with me. And I still see you as Uzumaki Naruto, my friend and fellow shinobi of the Leaf." Shikamaru said while holding out his hand.

Naruto looked surprised before he started smiling and shook Shikamaru's hand. He had found another friend that accepted him even when he knew about Kyuubi and it made him really happy. Shino and Kiba were happy as well and thanked Shikamaru for being a good friend. A few moments later the girls who had finished visiting Chouji arrived and when they saw the four of them slumped on the floor they asked what had happened and so the guy's had to tell what Gaara had tried to do and how they stopped him. They didn't tell anything about him carrying a demon or about Naruto's secrets. The girls were shocked at what had happened and felt relieved that they had visit Chouji first otherwise they might not have been able to stop Gaara from killing Lee. Slowly the boy's got up and said that they would pay Chouji a quick visit before heading home.

After they had finished visiting they made a promise to meet once a week so they could hang out and have some fun. They didn't know it yet but those meetings became the foundation of a friendship that became legendary throughout the lands. This would be the start of what later would be called 'The Konoha 11' who would become some of the biggest heroes Konoha had ever known. Each member would be recognized as some of the strongest shinobi of Konoha and they would be role models to kids for years to come.

Finally the day of the finals arrived, much sooner and faster than most would have liked and people all over Konoha were getting very nervous. Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage was standing on top of the Hokage monument and gazed over his village that was still in a peaceful slumber and sighed, he had been Hokage for many years and the feeling in his gut told him that maybe this would be the last sunrise he would ever see so he enjoyed it to the maximum. The preparations for an eventual attack had been taken but he knew from experience that no matter how much you prepare something always goes wrong or not the way you planned. They had prepared an evacuation plan for the civilians and several Chuunin were standing by waiting for the order to get into action, they would be responsible for their protection.

Other Chuunin and some low level Jounin were dispersed all around town hiding and waiting for any sign of an attack and as soon as they got the signal that the innocents were safe they would start the counterattack. Most of the Jounin and higher level shinobi were positioned around the village and the stadium and were assigned to stop the invaders from advancing or retreating. They would hit hard and fast just like in the old days.

Sandaime closed his eyes and thought about the upcoming fight, he hated this part of being Hokage, the part where he had to order shinobi to fight in situations that might get them killed but he realized that he had no choice. Just like himself these brave shinobi would risk their life to protect their loved ones and their village, he expected no less from shinobi of the Leaf. He then remembered a certain blond haired young genin who had been a grandson to him ever since the day he was born. He chuckled when he thought back at the days where Naruto would barge into his office asking if they could have ramen or him shouting that he would take his job. He truly hoped to see the day that Naruto became Hokage, it would bring him much joy and happiness unfortunately Naruto was a little too young to become Godaime Hokage but maybe he could aim at the post of Rokudaime Hokage.

Speaking of Godaime Hokage, he had been trying to appoint a successor but so far he hadn't found anyone that he could trust enough to become Hokage. He had briefly considered one of his old students Jiraiya but quickly dismissed that thought knowing Jiraiya would never give up his Sannin status and settle down in the village. If he thought about it, there was only one he truly saw fit to become Godaime but she would be even more reluctant to take the position even if he did get her back into the village. Suddenly a noise behind him made him stop thinking and he turned around when he heard a very familiar voice.

"Hey Jichan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked surprised to find anyone here at this hour.

"I'm just enjoying the sunrise and the beauty of our village Naruto. But what are you doing here?" Sandaime said smiling.

"Oh, I'm just here to calm my nerves a little, this place always helped me calm down you know?" Naruto said.

"Nervous for your fight? I'm sure you will do well Naruto, you've become so strong over the past year." Sandaime said not used to seeing a nervous Naruto.

"Oh I know I got stronger but my opponent is not a normal opponent Jichan, he's like me." Naruto said softly.

"Like you? Oh god you don't mean he a Jinchuuriki as well?" Sandaime said shocked.

Naruto nodded and then proceeded to tell what had happened at the hospital with Gaara and the conversation they had. Sandaime was shocked that the Kazekage would do such a horrible thing to his own son just for the sake of power. Where was the honor in condemning your own such to such a fate just for power, he would never understand that kind of logic. At least Minato had no other choice and his reasons where honorable no matter how devastating the results.

"So you see, I want to show him that a shinobi only is truly strong when he's protecting those he loves. I just hope I'm strong enough to do it." Naruto said.

"Naruto, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will be able to show him what a true shinobi is like. I have the utmost confidence in you so just give it your all okay?" Sandaime said and smiled when Naruto nodded.

"Well, guess I'll see you at the stadium Jichan, I have to wake Anko-chan otherwise she will sleep through the matches." Naruto joked and ran off home.

'You really are your father's son Naruto, more then you'll ever know. I'm truly proud of you, just show them who Uzumaki Naruto is and what he can do.' Sandaime thought before he too left to get ready. He had some unfinished business that he had to take care of today.

Several hours later the stadium was packed with spectators that came to see the fights between the most promising genin that the villages had to offer. Between the crowed were several anbu disguised as civilians, they would be the first line of defense if the stadium got attacked. Also of the Konoha genin who hadn't made it to the finals were gathered together and were anxiously waiting for their friends to start their matches. Sakura and Ino had gone early enough so that they could save seats for TenTen and Chouji they would have saved a seat for Lee but he was still at the hospital, the seats where right in front of the battle field so they would have an excellent view of the fight. Over the past month the genin had become a group of close friends except Neji who seemed hostile towards Hinata but she refused to explain why saying that this was one thing that was between both of them. Still she hoped that Neji would change after this match when she proved to him that she too was strong and a capable kunoichi.

Naruto looked around and marveled at the stadium and all the people that had come to watch them fight. He could feel the adrenaline pumping and he was getting excited about fighting and showing them just what he was capable of. This was why he and Anko had worked so hard over the past year, sure becoming Chuunin was a small step compared to becoming Hokage but it was an important step nonetheless. His nervousness that he felt that morning seemed to have disappeared when he entered the stadium and he looked over at Anko, who was standing with Kurenai and the other Jounin sensei's. She had been very agitated about his fight with Gaara and although she had utmost confidence in him she still was a little scared of him being hurt or worse killed by the Suna Shinobi. Naruto had assured her that he would be fine and that she should be ready to cheer him on.

Finally all the genin (except Sasuke, who seemed to be late) had assembled at the center of the battleground so they could receive some last instructions. There had been a change since Dosu, the sound nin had been killed during the month previous to the finals so there would only be five matches. After that they were to face the Hokage and Kazekage who were sitting in a balcony just in front of them. The Hokage nodded and stood up preparing to say a few words to the crowd and the genin.

"People of Konoha and esteemed guests, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the finals of the Chuunin exams." He said while looking around in the crowd.

"Today, we will witness just how strong our respective shinobi are and from their fights we will determine who of them is worthy of the being promoted to the rank of Chuunin. I hope each and every one of you have an enjoyable day." He finished that part of his speech. He then turned toward the genin who would be fighting.

"A few words for our young contestants. You have made you village proud by advancing this far, nobody can take that away from you no matter if you win or lose today. Remember the following, a shinobi's strength isn't how many jutsu's he knows but how he uses them and the reason why you fight. I wish you the best of luck in your matches." The Hokage said before sitting back down before the crowd erupted in applause and encouragements.

Naruto and the other genin were instructed to leave the battleground while both Hinata and Neji had to stay for the first match. Naruto, Kiba and Shino wished their friend good luck and went upstairs as well. They had confidence that Hinata would do well, even if she lost the match they all knew she had grown into a strong and capable kunoichi. Hinata and Neji made their way over to the middle of the field and stood in front of each other. Before the proctor could start the match however Neji started to say something.

"Hinata-sama, I would advise you to give up this fight. You're too weak to win this fight." He said arrogantly while sneering at Hinata.

"I will not give up this fight Neji-nisan. Besides how do you know I can't win?" She said looking him straight in the eyes. She wouldn't back down from this fight or let him intimidate her any further.

"Fate decided that I would be the winner from the moment our match was drawn. You cannot change fate or destiny." He said still sneering at her.

"Fate? Destiny? And how do you know what Fate or Destiny has decided?" Hinata said already used to hearing Neji's logic, she had spend some time with TenTen after all.

"You're weak Hinata-sama, you always were weak and you can't change that. I will show you the difference between us and display the foolishness of going against Fate itself." Neji said before activating his Byakugan. Hinata responded by taking a stance for the original Jyuken style and she too activated her Byakugan. The proctor then started the match and the two genin just jumped forward and started exchanging blows to each other.

Neji started by aiming at her stomach with a textbook move but Hinata quickly countered and retaliated by aiming a punch to his shoulder. Both of them kept trying to hit their opponent but so far neither of them had landed a hit. Hinata kept advancing trying to get the upper hand and for a moment it seemed she was succeeding but then she felt Neji hit a few tenketsu in her right arm making her jump backwards to do some damage control. Luckilly he had only sealed two of them and she relaxed for a second trying to catch her breath. Like she had expected Neji was vastly superior to her in the Jyuken style but unlike before she was able to see his attacks and counter them.

Neji was seething inside, he had expected that Hinata would be a pushover but so far she had done remarkably well. This wasn't the Hinata he remembered, that Hinata was a coward, a weakling someone who was afraid to get hurt and to hurt others as well. The Hinata standing in front of him however was confident and had the skill to back it up. Nonetheless, he wouldn't lose to her, he was a genius of the Hyuuga clan even if he came from the branch family. He would observe for now and attack when the time was right.

In the crowd Hyuuga Hiashi, clan head and leader of the Hyuuga was watching the fight between his daughter and his nephew. He too had anticipated a easy match for Neji even though he had noticed that Hinata had been making excellent progress with the Jyuken when they sparred. He was surprised to see his daughter fight in such a straightforward way, he knew she hated to inflict pain on others especially friends or family. Next to him sat his youngest daughter Hanabi, who was watching with big eyes at how her sister was holding her own against Neji. When she had to spar against him she didn't last very long and now her older sister was doing better than her even when she had been labeled weak and unfit to be a kunoichi.

"Go, Hinata! Kick his ass and show them what you got!" Naruto, Kiba and Shino exclaimed showing their support.

Hinata smiled and rushed forward to launch the next series of attacks upon Neji who was waiting for her. She started out with some standard Jyuken moves which Neji blocked without a problem but all of the sudden Hinata grabbed his arm and pulled him closer making her knee connect with his outer thigh of his left leg. The hit had come unsuspected and it would restrict Neji's movements for just a moment. While Neji was cursing Hinata advanced once again and hit two pressure points in his right arm. Neji then jumped back and quickly rubbed his leg making the pain go away.

"It seems your aim is a little off Hinata-sama. You didn't hit any tenketsu at all." Neji said. He was going to continue his rant but then his right arm started to hurt pretty badly making him wince.

"Who said I was aiming at your tenketsu?" Hinata just answered. The pressure points she had hit would give Neji a fierce pain for a few minutes but other than that there wouldn't be any effects.

Neji frowned before trying to move his right arm only to find that it hurt like hell and that he couldn't move his arm at all. He wondered what Hinata had done but figured that the pain would soon be over. He would need to take some distance until the pain went away. Hinata however wouldn't stand around doing nothing and charged him head on. She delivered blow after blow and Neji was finding himself hard pressed to defend himself with only one arm. He ducked under a Jyuken punch by crouching low but what happened next shocked him to the core, Hinata had moved closer and just planted her knee right into his face knocking him back before she followed up with a hard punch in the gut and hitting a few tenketsu and pressure points as well. Unfortunately for Hinata who was planning to hit him in the face Neji regained control of his arm and blocked her punch before jumping back.

"That wasn't a Jyuken attack! Are you that weak that you need to resort to another Taijutsu style to defeat me?" Neji sneered at her while he tried to clear his head from the blow he received.

"What? Is there some rule that Hyuuga can only fight by using the Jyuken? I'm a kunoichi of the Leaf and as a shinobi I use everything that might win me the match." Hinata answered calmly.

"Use whatever you want but you won't win against me. I said it already, you were destined to lose this match." Neji said arrogantly.

Hinata just ignored his words and slowly started advancing towards her cousin. She had closed a few tenketsu and hit several pressure points in his right leg but unlike before these would hinder him for at least half an hour. They would slow him down a little making the match a little more even for her. Even with all the training she had done in the past month Neji was still faster than her and the fact that he was better at Jyuken put her in a difficult situation. She was only slowly getting comfortable with her own style of Taijutsu and it was still far from perfect even if she had proven that it worked very well. She would have to catch him off guard if she wanted to have a chance to defeat him.

Neji saw his cousin slowly coming towards him and prepared by taking a stance but he cursed when he felt a sharp pain in his right leg. The pain was very similar to the pain he felt in his arm and he assumed that it would go away in a few minutes. Still the pain would slow him down so he would have to be careful, he wouldn't take any more chances in this match. Hinata had now approached him enough that he could attack her but he opted to wait and let her attack waiting for the pain to disappear.

Suddenly Hinata shot forward and threw a punch at his face which he blocked with his right arm before throwing a punch at her midsection. Hinata saw the punch coming and just twisted on her feet elegantly evading the punch. She did a small spin and aimed to hit Neji from the side. Neji however just smirked and unleashed his next attack. He just started turning like a toll and yelled out 'KAITEN' making a large blue dome like structure appear around him, Hinata who was too close to evade it crashed right into it and was flown across the field.

The crowd was shocked into silence at seeing these two genin fight so seriously and almost all of them held their breath to see how the fight would end. One person however was even more shocked than all the rest. Hyuuga Hiashi couldn't believe what he just saw, a branch member had learned one of the secret techniques of the Jyuken that normally only were taught to members of the main family. This meant that Neji had learned it on his own which baffled him. He was more than a little shocked at how Hinata was doing in this fight, she had shown him that she was way more talented than that he had thought she was. Maybe he would have to review his opinion about his oldest daughter he thought.

Naruto and the rest were worried about their friend, none of them had known that kind of technique existed and that Neji was able to use it. From what they had seen Hinata had collided with the chakra dome sending her across the field. They hoped that she would be okay and uninjured enough to continue the fight. They had been glad to see how well Hinata had been doing in her match. All of them knew how scared and nervous she had been but it seemed that Hinata had made up her mind and was fighting to win. They couldn't be more proud of her even if she lost the fight.

Hinata opened her eyes and slowly and painfully got up to her feet, she had taken a heavy blow and knew that she could afford to take another hit like that again. Never had she expected that her cousin knew the 'Kaiten' since branch members weren't taught how to do it. She coughed up some blood and wiped her mouth while slowly trying to regain her strength before Neji attacked her again. She didn't need to worry since he was waiting for her with an arrogant smile on his face. When she felt good enough to continue she stood up straight and motioned to him that she was ready.

"I will finish this match now Hinata-sama. You're within my field of divination." Neji said while taking a stance. Hinata recognized the stance and she got ready to defend herself.

"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!" Neji just started attacking aiming to hit Hinata's tenketsu which would prevent her from using chakra for some time. Hinata however wouldn't just stand there and be hit, she had developed her own technique which would help her block all of Neji's hits.

"Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō!" she started moving her arms in front of her at high speed making a blue chakra shield appear in front of her blocking every one of Neji's attacks.

When Neji finished his attack he couldn't believe what had happened. Hinata had somehow succeeded in blocking every one of his attacks with a technique he had never seen or heard about. He stood shocked not even noticing that Hinata was advancing towards him ready to attack. Hinata who had seen that Neji was temporarily distracted moved on instinct and started attacking him. She closed as much tenketsu as she could and hit several very painful pressure points on the joints of his arms and legs. She was breathing very heavy after her attack and she had used most of her remaining chakra while doing the 'Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō' so she knew that this was the end of the match for her.

Neji who saw his final attack being blocked barely registered Hinata's onslaught on his body until he became aware of the sharp pains in his body. He dropped to his knees before falling face down in the dirt. When he tried to get back up he screamed slightly in pain caused by Hinata's attack.

"How? What was that technique?" He managed to say.

"I-It was my own original technique that I made it with the help of my team. For years I saw myself as weak and pitiful but my team helped me get stronger, they helped me create my own style of Taijutsu since I find the Jyuken unnatural to me. So I started on creating my own style, a style suited for me and even though its' far from finished you have seen and felt the results." Hinata said while dropping down to one knee.

"You created your own style? Impossible, someone like you couldn't do such a thing." Neji said not believing a word he heard.

"Believe whatever you want, Neji-nisan. I know now that I'm not weak like you or my dad used to tell me. I trained hard and long just to show you that I too can be strong." Hinata said while breathing heavy. She was starting to lose consciousness from chakra exhaustion.

"Destiny decided that I would win yet this happens. Why?" Neji mumbled.

"Destiny and Fate do not concern themselves with a fight like ours. My team taught me that destiny and fate is what you make of it, they showed me that if you work hard for something you can defy them and make your own destiny." Hinata said falling down on her back before losing consciousness with a small smile on her face. She had shown them that she too was strong and in the end that's all she wanted. She didn't care about winning or losing the match.

The proctor who had allowed them to finish their conversation went over to check on both of them. He took a good look at Neji and saw that he was unable to continue the match, he had a good idea what the girl had done with her last attack so he was sure that Neji was in no condition to fight. He then made his way over to Hinata and couldn't help but smile at the young girl who had fought so bravely against someone who was considered a genius and had managed to fight him to a standstill. Seeing that she had lost consciousness he stood up and lifted his hands.

"Both fighters are unable to continue the fight. I hereby declare this a draw." He yelled out to the spectators. The people in the stadium went crazy shouting and yelling their support and admiration for both Neji and Hinata. The match had been more than satisfying in their eyes and they showed it.

In the stands Hyuuga Hiashi slowly got up and told his youngest daughter that they were going to see both Neji and Hinata in the sickbay. Hanabi nodded, she was impressed with the skills and techniques her sister had shown during the fight. She was sure now that Hinata was far from a weakling that she thought she was. Hiashi too thought the same thing and he would have to congratulated his daughter for fighting so well. They walked in silence each thinking of how to address Hinata when she woke up.

Naruto and company were cheering the loudest of all, Hinata had done it. She had shown just how strong she truly was and everybody had seen it. Kurenai and Anko were very proud of their young protégé and vowed to let her know just that. The rest of the Konoha genin were shocked to see Hinata fighting this fiercely. Sakura and Ino knew that they would have to train very hard if they wanted to become as strong as Hinata was.

After a few minutes the crowd had calmed down and were waiting eagerly for the next match to start. The proctor named Genma went to the middle of the field and waited for a sign from the Hokage saying that it was okay to start the second match. Sandaime nodded and Genma called them down to the field.

"We will now start the second match. Will Uchiha Sasuke and Sabaku no Kankuro please come down." He yelled.

Hearing the name Uchiha most of the spectators began to cheer since the Uchiha name was famous in all the shinobi lands as one of the strongest clans. They were sure that the last Uchiha would provide them with a very good show. Naruto just frowned at the attention Sasuke received just because of his name, most of the spectators didn't know anything about Sasuke or had ever seen him fight and yet they considered him the best there was.

Kankuro made his way down expecting the Uchiha to follow him but strangely he arrived alone in front of the proctor. The crowd was getting restless when they saw that Sasuke wasn't there. Genma frowned and decided to call again. But before he could do so an chuunin appeared in front of him saying that Sasuke hadn't arrived yet and that the match would be postponed until later. Genma raised his eyebrows at that since normally said genin would have been disqualified but he guessed that because it was an Uchiha who was late. God knows how much privileges that gave him, frankly it disgusted him but there was nothing he could do about that.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Uchiha Sasuke has yet to arrive so we'll go straight to the third match. The second match will be fought afterwards. Will Sabaku no Gaara and Uzumaki Naruto please come down." Genma said.

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I'm evil, sorry for the cliffhanger but the chapter was already 9000 words so better stop here. Next week Naruto versus Gaara, who will be the one standing at the end? Will Naruto succeed in helping his fellow Jinchuuriki?

Next 'Chapter 18: Who stands and who falls?' will be online on Sunday the 18th of May. See you guys then.

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	18. Chapter 18: Who stands and who falls?

I don't own Naruto.

Hey everybody, welcome back for the 18th chapter of 'The story of Uzumaki Naruto'. I can't believe we're that far already, time sure flies when you're having fun. Anyway this chapter is the much awaited fight between Naruto and Gaara. I sincerely hope it lives up to the expectations. I wrote this chapter several weeks ago and I was immediately please with how I wrote the fight so let me know.

Funny thing happened when I read another story this week, the fight between Gaara and Naruto in that story showed some elements of my fight and the other way around. It's kind of funny to see that two completely different author's with two different stories can come up with the same things. I guess what I want to say that any resemblance with other stories is completely coincidence, I'm not the kind of person who would steal other people's idea's or work.

Okay question, how did you like Chapter 400 of the manga? I kind of liked it since Sasugay starts realizing that the Uchiha weren't so innocent and that he just killed the man that gave up everything for him. Off course we don't know if Tobi (Madara) is telling the exact truth but I would like to think he does. Although with Kishimoto you can never be sure. Anyway I'm looking forward to see how he will deal with this information. I only hope that we won't have to endure a 100 chapters of Sasugay crying and whining about it.

Anyway let's get on with this story. Enjoy.

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Chapter 18: Who stands and who falls?

Naruto frowned, he couldn't believe the favoritism Sasuke had been shown. Had it been him or any other genin they would have been disqualified for not showing up on time, but since he was an Uchiha they allowed him to postpone his match. He looked towards the balcony where Sandaime was seated and saw that he too wasn't happy at having to allow the match to be postponed, Naruto knew that his Jichan would never allow something like that without a very good reason but he was still a little mad about it.

"Naruto-kun, be careful okay? I don't care if you lose the match but I don't want you to get hurt." Anko whispered softly. She was worried about her lover's match and even more worried about what might happen afterwards if there was an attack.

"Don't worry Anko-chan, I'll be fine I promise. I will win this match and show Gaara that he's not a monster." Naruto before giving her a firm hug and a small kiss. He didn't care who saw it, he loved her and he wanted to reassure her.

He started making his way down when he saw that Gaara had already gone down. He smiled at his friends and entered the field ready to fight an incredible opponent. He was feeling nervous but at the same time he was excited at facing Gaara, he would have to fight without holding back and the adrenaline was intoxicating. When he reached the middle of the field Gaara looked at him and started talking.

"Show me Uzumaki, show me that what you said is true. Hopefully you will be a challenge unlike the other weak genins in Konoha." Gaara said already releasing a massive amount of killer intent which was felt by everyone in the stadium.

"No need to try and scare me by releasing that much killer intent Gaara, I won't run away. I'll show you what a true shinobi is and I will defeat you." Naruto said while clenching his fists.

Genma had been amazed at the killer intent the Suna shinobi had been able to release and it was getting to him since he was so close but when Naruto spoke the feeling of impendent doom seemed to disappear. He shook his head and asked them if they were ready to start the match. Both genins nodded and Genma raised his hand saying that when his hands come down the match would start. Everyone in the stadium watched with anticipation as Genma's arms came down and not even a second later Naruto appeared in front of Gaara throwing a punch at his face. Gaara's sand just shot up blocking the attack and made Naruto jump back.

"Like I thought. That sand of yours is going to be a major pain in the ass." Naruto said but Gaara just stood still and seemed to ignore Naruto's words. Gaara's sand just seemed to move on its own will and several tentacles of sand moved at high speed towards Naruto forcing him to duck and evade them. When one of the tentacles crashed into the wall almost destroying it Naruto avoided them as much as possible.

After evading the sand for a few minutes Naruto was getting tired of running away and decided to do some attacking of his own. While he ran across the field he started doing some handseals and started gathering some chakra, he changed directions and went straight to Gaara only to jump up when another tentacle came straight at him. While he hadn't planned to jump this early it worked out fine and he did the last seal before exhaling dozens of tiny fireballs.

"'Katon: Ryusei Haretsu No Jutsu'" and the dozens of fireballs impacted around the field and Gaara before they exploded causing dust to cover the arena. Naruto knew however that this jutsu wouldn't hurt Gaara it was merely a distraction for the next part of the plan. A few moments later the dust cleared and the crowed could once again see into the arena, they saw Naruto standing there like he was waiting for something. When they saw him looking straight in front of him they saw Gaara standing there protected by his sand not even a scratch on him.

Naruto just grinned and started advancing towards Gaara while evading the sand that shot at him from all directions. He kept running straight at Gaara who was kind of surprised to see the blonde coming straight at him but in the end it didn't matter to him, if the fool wanted to die so badly he would indulge him. When Naruto was only a reaching distance away Gaara send a new tentacle at Naruto that was impossible to dodge at this distance. The sand just slammed right into Naruto who just disappeared in a cloud of smoke startling both Gaara and the crowd. Gaara just stared at the place where Naruto used to be until he felt his sand move behind him, he quickly turned around and saw Naruto ready to punch him but luckily his sand protected him but just like last time when Naruto got hit a cloud of smoke appeared.

Gaara then felt his sand move all around him and when he looked up to the sky he saw dozens of Naruto's descending on him. He smirked, no matter how many there were one of them was the real one and his sand would deal with him. His sand shot upwards destroying clone after clone until the sky was filled with smoke from the dispelling clones. Gaara looked around and saw that every Naruto had disappeared which didn't make any sense, but before he could react a fist connected with his chin launching him up in the air. Naruto had used 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu' to get underground and positioned himself right under Gaara while distracting him with 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu', when Gaara destroyed all of them he shot up punching Gaara straight in the face.

That wasn't the end of Naruto's attack however and a last Kage Bunshin clone appeared above Gaara and send him back down by planting his heel into Gaara's stomach. Gaara crashed straight into the ground creating a crater indicating just how much power Naruto's kick must have had. The crowd was shocked into silence and a lot of them were sitting on the edge of their seat trying to see through the dust.

Anko and the rest were cheering like crazy for Naruto but each of them knew that this wasn't the end of the fight. In fact they would be surprised if Gaara was even slightly hurt by this attack but they cheered all the same. On the other side of the balcony Gaara's teammates could only stare not believing their eyes, this was the second Leaf genin who had succeeded in hitting Gaara. First was the freaky looking Taijutsu guy in green and now this blonde genin did the same thing. They could only imagine how Gaara would react but they knew it meant trouble.

Before the dust cleared however a large tentacle of sand slammed Naruto into the wall on the other side of the arena resulting in a large crack and a hurting Naruto. He dropped on the ground trying to overcome the pain and forced himself to stand up. Luckily he healed pretty quick so if he had an injury he would heal in matter of minutes as long if the injury wasn't too severe. Meanwhile the dust had cleared and Gaara could been seen standing inside the crater grinning like a maniac. A silent yet crazy laughter filled the arena and soon Gaara was laughing so hard that most people thought he had lost it.

"That's it Uzumaki Naruto. Show me more, I want more, I want to fight you full-out. No more holding back or I kill you right here in front of your so-called precious people." Gaara said grinning, his eyes bloodshot.

Naruto sighed, he had hoped that he could keep this until later in the finals but he knew that he had no chance of winning if he held back. He looked up the stands and looked for Anko asking for permission for what was to come. Anko knew what he wanted and she agreed that it was necessary not only so that Naruto could win but also that he would survive.

"Naruto, it's okay. Release the seal you have my permission!" she screamed for everyone to hear. She enjoyed the confused faces on Kurenai and the rest of the shinobi gathered around her.

Naruto nodded and placed his hand on his chest before starting to concentrate for a moment. After a few seconds he seemed to gather some chakra and said 'Fuinjutsu: Zenryoku Gentei: Kaihou '. For a second nothing happened but then chakra seemed to explode from Naruto's body engulfing him in a large ball of chakra and creating a crater from the force the chakra had. Slowly the chakra returned to a normal level but Naruto seemed to be rejuvenated back to full health. The people in the crowd just stared at him not fully understanding what had happened. Anko was bombarded with questions and she was only too happy to answer them without revealing too much of course.

"Guess you guys want some kind of explanation huh? Fine, the seal Naruto just released is a restriction seal. The seal was created by the Yondaime Hokage and he was the first one to use it, Naruto being the second. Its function is simple but effective, the jutsu seals a certain amount of chakra away at any given time. The stronger you are the more chakra is sealed away, according to his notes Yondaime sealed away about half of his chakra outside of major battles. Still with me?" she asked. When she saw everyone nodding she continued.

"In Naruto's case however the jutsu seals away about ten percent of his full power at all time, over time this will increase. The downside to this jutsu is that it takes a lot of time to work, in fact it only started working after we got back from the country of the Wave. That was about 3 months after he applied to himself and you can't release it for at least six months after applying it." She continued.

"Wait, so you're saying that Naruto has been fighting all this time with ten percent of his strength and chakra sealed away?" Kiba asked slightly angered that Naruto didn't tell them about this.

"Don't be mad at Naruto, Kiba. I ordered him not to tell or use it without my permission. He wanted to tell you guys all about it but he made a promise not to." Anko said while placing her hand on Kiba's shoulders. This relaxed Kiba a bit since he knew that Naruto would never break a promise to Anko no matter what. The other genin were still trying to get over the shock that Naruto hadn't been fighting at full power before now.

"But it's only ten percent right? Will it make that much difference?" Chouji asked Anko.

"Ten percent may not seem a lot but I assure you that it quite the opposite. Fighting at full power is very different, you'll see soon enough." Anko smirked.

While Anko was explaining what had happened Naruto had been busy getting used to feeling at full power again. It was strange and slightly uncomfortable for a minute but now he felt at ease and ready. He hoped his friends would forgive him for not telling them about this but he would worry about that later. He slowly unsheathed his sword before starting to walk back to the middle of the arena. Since Gaara wanted to fight without holding back he gladly accepted the challenge. He wondered what would happen now that they decided to go full-out.

Gaara watched as Naruto took his sword and started walking straight at him. He was feeling very excited about this fight, the blonde was without a doubt a strong opponent worthy of fighting. The demon inside him was screaming for blood and Gaara would obey like he always did. When he saw that Naruto had reached the middle of the arena he attacked without hesitating. He made his sand attack, forming a long spear of sand and shot it toward the blonde. Naruto saw the attack coming and calmly raised his sword in the air before bringing it down using one of his Kenjutsu techniques called 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu'. The attack met the spear head on cleanly cutting it in half and making it miss Naruto by a few inches. His attack however just continued towards Gaara and impacted on the shield made of sand. Gaara's eyes widened seeing that Naruto had defeated his attack so easily and ordered his sand to make several spears and sent them at Naruto who frowned and prepared himself.

When he saw the spears heading towards him Naruto ducked under the first and jumped over the second. In the air he once again raised his sword and used his technique to destroy the third spear. Landing he twisted around before aiming at Gaara again. His attack impacted on Gaara's shield which was barely blocking it, seeing this he figured that he might be able to cut through the shield if he used more chakra but using the 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' so many times would eat away at his reserves. So he decided that instead of using his techniques he would just use his sword to cut the sand. Gaara just gathered sand around him before launching several tentacles at Naruto all at the same time. Naruto dodged several of them and cut through the others trying to save his chakra for his own attacks.

The crowd was watching as Naruto was jumping around the arena evading the sand or cut through it with his sword. They were rooted in their seat staring at the fight which was quickly beginning to even better than the first match. Even the Kazekage and the Hokage seemed to be very interested in the fight. Anko and the rest were cheering for Naruto, Anko for him to finish the fight before he got hurt , the rest for him to win.

Naruto's speed was nowhere near Lee's so he had a lot of trouble trying to get Gaara off guard and keeping away from the sand was getting harder and harder. It seemed that Gaara had pulled out the big guns this time. He was getting tired from all the running around, even with his stamina this was getting very bothersome. He would have to find a way to attack Gaara but for now he needed to deal with the sand.

"What's the matter Uzumaki? Is running away the only thing you can do? Fight me head on, if you don't I will kill all those you love." Gaara said while following Naruto with his eyes.

Naruto just responded by jumping on one of the tentacles and started running on top of it. He ducked another one before cutting his way to Gaara who just waited patiently for him. Naruto then made several Kage Bunshin who started clearing the way for him, one by one they cut a path through the sand protecting him. He landed on the ground again and prepared to cut Gaara across the chest but once again the shield that had protected Gaara before appeared and stopped his sword. From the sand several spikes shot out and before Naruto could dodge them one pierced his left shoulder. Naruto used his sword to cut the spike and quickly retreated, his shoulder was bleeding pretty badly and his left arm was as good as useless. Even with his advanced healing it would take a while before he would be able to use it again.

"That's it Uzumaki Naruto, give me more of your delicious blood." Gaara laughed maniacally.

"Excuse me if I find the fact that you want more of my tasty blood somewhat gross and disgusting." Naruto said while holding his shoulder. He sheathed his sword knowing that he wouldn't be able to use it efficiently anymore without the use of his left arm.

"This fight is the best, I want more, when I defeat you I'll once again prove my existence." Gaara said while sand seemed to surround him.

Naruto was getting worried, Gaara was acting more and more crazy and that couldn't be good. He watched as Gaara disappeared in a large ball of sand and wondered what would happen next. Somehow he knew that he needed to stop whatever was going to happen next and he had just the technique to do it. He turned his head and looked straight at the Sandaime and smiled.

"Oi jichan, better watch closely I have a surprise for you." Naruto yelled.

The Sandaime wondered what Naruto was talking about and he nodded showing he was watching very closely. But before Naruto could do anything two persons appeared right in the middle of the arena. The crowd and Naruto could only stare at how both Uchiha Sasuke and Hatake Kakashi stood there like they didn't have a care in the world. Genma quickly made his way over to them.

"Ah sorry, are we too late?" Kakashi asked.

"Idiots, you're disturbing a match. The match between Sasuke and Kankuro has been postponed now get the hell out of the arena before I disqualify your student." Genma ordered.

"You can't disqualify me! I'm an Uchiha." Sasuke sneered arrogantly.

"Listen genin, I don't care who you are. Frankly you should have been disqualified for coming late in the first place. Now get out of here before I make you." Genma said while staring Sasuke down. Kakashi quickly intervened before Sasuke's arrogance and pride made him lose the match before he even got to fight. He grabbed Sasuke by the shoulder and used Shunshin no Jutsu to the balcony where the other Jounin and Genin were waiting.

Naruto just smiled at seeing Sasuke being put in his place but quickly returned to the task at hand. He looked towards Gaara and started concentrating chakra in his hand and a moment later a sphere made of chakra appeared in his hand. He started running slowly towards Gaara while running faster and faster and brought his arm behind him with the sphere neatly resting in his palm. Just when he reached Gaara he ducked and evaded the spikes that came out of the ball and slammed his hand into the ball yelling out ' RASENGAN'.

Naruto's Rasengan penetrated the sand forcing it away from the sheer pressure, the sand exploded all around him and he continued his trajectory. The Rasengan was still going strong when it slammed into Gaara's stomach and for a brief second it seemed that Gaara didn't feel it but then he was propelled backward spinning around before he crashed into the wall. Gaara hit the wall so hard that a huge dent appeared and he fell to the ground on his stomach. Naruto was breathing heavily, using the Rasengan and maintaining it after he destroyed the ball of sand had taken more chakra than he would have thought. Nonetheless, the result was very satisfying, the crowd was silent you could literally hear a needle fall. Naruto turned toward Sandaime and grinned as he saw the shocked face on the old man.

"Alright Naruto, you got him, way to go!" Anko cheered loudly enjoying the shocked faces of her colleagues and fellow shinobi. When the crowd heard Anko cheering the stadium exploded into cheering and screaming, each of them telling how shocked they were.

"Anko, correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that the 'Rasengan'?" Kakashi asked bewildered. Never had he imagined seeing that jutsu again, the Rasengan was his sensei's personal jutsu after all.

"Yep, it sure was. Bet you're wondering how he learned it aren't you?" Anko said enjoying every minute of it. This was perfect, now everyone would know just how strong and talented Naruto truly was, this was why Naruto and Anko had decided to use the Rasengan for the first time during this exam.

"But, how did Naruto learn it? It's is an A-rank jutsu created by the Yondaime Hokage. Not only that but it took him three years to master it." Kakashi said.

"Sorry Kakashi, but if you want details you'll have to ask Naruto. But let me tell you this, it took Naruto only a month to master it." She said before turning back to the arena shocking all those around her.

The rest of the Jounin and genin gathered there were shocked at what they had heard. Naruto had succeeded in mastering a jutsu created by the Yondaime in only one month. They knew he wasn't the same dead last anymore but this was unbelievable. Some of the older shinobi recognized the jutsu and soon the whole stadium was talking about the legendary Yondaime and how Naruto knew his personal techniques.

"Hnnn, so what? I bet that loser jutsu is nothing compared to my Chidori." Sasuke said while narrowing his eyes.

"Sasuke, I may be your Jounin sensei but if you insult the Yondaime again I will kick your ass, am I clear?" Kakashi said while glaring at him. "And one more thing, the Chidori was based on the Rasengan and I can assure you that it's power is nothing like the Rasengan."

Sasuke just ignored Kakashi but inside he was mad like hell that Naruto had such a powerful attack. In his eyes Naruto was a nobody, a loser and he didn't deserve such power. He would have to use his Sharingan to copy it if Naruto used it again.

The Sandaime just looked at Naruto with unmistaken pride in his eyes. 'You little scamp, how long have you been able to do that technique?' He wondered. He could see the shinobi in the crowd looking at Naruto and he couldn't be more happier for his adopted grandson. They were looking at him with a small sign of respect and admiration, he knew that Naruto was as good as promoted to Chuunin just by demonstrating this technique. He wondered how many secrets Naruto still held from him. While this was going on, Naruto was slowly recovering from his exhaustion and although his shoulder wouldn't be healed before the end of the match he was pretty sure that it wouldn't take much longer. He started making his way over to where Gaara was hoping that this would be the end of the match.

Gaara couldn't believe the pain he was in, whatever this jutsu was it had done some major damage to him and not even his sand had been able to protect him from it. He was sure that he had broken several bones and he could hardly get up. Strange thing was that he felt pretty calm and relaxed, he remembered how he had felt just before the attack. He had been losing control and would have used his demon's chakra but now his head was clear. He slowly turned around so he would be on his back looking at the blue sky. Just then Naruto reached him and sat down next to him. The crowd was silent wondering what was going to happen.

"Feeling yourself again? For a moment I thought you lost it." Naruto asked.

"For a moment I did lose it." Gaara just said. Naruto nodded showing that he would answer any question Gaara may have.

"You said that you and I are alike. What did you mean by that?" Gaara said while looking at Naruto.

"Almost fourteen years ago, one of the Bijuu attacked Konoha, it was the Kyuubi if you want to know. It destroyed everything on its path and killed dozens of people until the Yondaime Hokage managed to defeat it. But he didn't kill it or rather he couldn't kill it, however he sealed the beast into a baby. That baby would protect Konoha for the rest of his life by being a prison for the Kyuubi. Guess who the baby was?" Naruto said to him.

"You? The Kyuubi is sealed within you isn't it?" Gaara said understanding what Naruto meant.

"Yeah, the Yondaime wanted me to be a hero, but the people of Konoha saw me as the Kyuubi itself, hating me, shunning me. They wanted nothing to do with me, they even forbade me to enter shops, in the academy my teachers ignored me and so on. I was anything but a hero to the people." Naruto continued.

"So why do you fight to protect them, they deserve whatever you give them. Don't you want revenge? How do you ignore the stares and the hatred?" Gaara said not understanding how Naruto could be so relaxed about all of this.

"Ah but you see, there were people who saw me as Uzumaki Naruto, people who cared for me even if it took a while to find them. I had Sandaime jichan, Iruka sensei, Anko-chan, my teammates and Kurenai sensei. I fight for them, I fight for the village and the people they love and that's why I want to be strong so that they never have to know the loneliness I have known." Naruto said while helping Gaara to sit up.

"Unlike me you had nobody, you were seen as a weapon and to be honest I'm disgusted a father would do such a thing to his own son. But you're not alone anymore Gaara, if you want I'll be your friend and help you in every way I can. We have a difficult future ahead of us, people fear us and hate us so it is up to us to make them change their opinion. One day they'll know that were not the monsters we carry inside us, that's what I believe and that's what I'm working for." Naruto said grabbing Gaara with his good arm pulling him to his feet.

"A friend? I'll like that. Uzumaki Naruto, the match is yours. I have utterly and completely lost to you." Gaara said announcing his defeat to the stadium.

"You may have lost the match Gaara but you gained a friend." Naruto said before giving Gaara a firm handshake and for the first time in his life Gaara's sand didn't move to protect him.

The crowd just exploded in applause for the two genin who gave it their all for the match and cheered for both of them. Anko and company just raced down toward the arena wanting to be with their lover and friend. Even Sandaime was clapping his hands with pride for the two young shinobi before him, they had fought with honor and had made their villages proud beyond anything. Genma just stepped forward and announced Naruto as the winner of the match.

After everybody had calmed down enough Naruto was guided to the sickbay where they would treat his wounds although his shoulder was practically healed. It appeared that it looked worse than it was and he could already move his arm around again.

"I knew you could do it, Naruto-kun. You better get healed fast because tonight I'm giving you a reward." Anko said softly while holding him so close Naruto could feel every bit of her body making him blush like crazy. No matter what Anko always could make him blush he thought. Anko however enjoyed every minute of it, she loved to tease him and she would take every opportunity to do so.

Gaara was escorted to where his teammates where standing and he motioned them to come closer.

"We will not participate in the attack. If you fight the Leaf shinobi, I will personally stop you, do I make myself clear?" Gaara threatened them. His teammates who were actually Gaara's older brother and sister just nodded not wanting to deal with Gaara's wrath. They had never seen him this way before and Gaara's sister Temari was almost crying when she saw some form of emotion in Gaara's usual cold eyes.

Inside the arena Genma looked at the destruction caused by Gaara and Naruto and decided that they would need to clean it up a little so he announced that they would have a hour break before starting the next match. The crowd was happy that they would have some time to stretch their leg and maybe get something to drink so nobody complained. Sandaime decided to have a word with Naruto congratulating him on a well fought match. So he excused him to the Kazekage and made his way over to the balcony where Naruto was resting. He smiled when he saw that everybody wanted to speak with Naruto or wanted to see him from up close, luckily he was the Hokage so people let him pass without making a fuss.

"Well Naruto, do you have any more surprises for today?" He asked smiling. Everybody looked up to see the Hokage himself speaking to Naruto, most of them knew that they had a close relationship but others were surprised to see the Hokage coming all the way over here to speak to a genin.

"Euh, well I might have a few left." Naruto said grinning like crazy.

"Try not to give my any more near heart attacks, please. How long have you been able to do the Rasengan?" Sandaime said while lighting his pipe.

"I mastered it while we were training in the forest. I kept it a secret until now so that I could surprise you." Naruto replied.

"Excuse me to interrupt Naruto, but Anko said that you mastered it in one month. Is this true?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto just nodded not wanting to brag too much. Both Kakashi and Sandaime just stared at him and started shaking their head. They had trouble believing that Naruto had mastered it in such a short time. After that Kakashi started explaining to the other genin about how the Yondaime had been his Jounin sensei when he was younger and that he knew from experience just how powerful the Rasengan was. He had seen it in action more than enough he remembered during the war with Iwa. Sandaime too told some stories about when the Yondaime was younger and Naruto listened glad to hear about his father's youth while he rested.

The hour went quickly and everyone had a great time listening to the stories Sandaime told about the time he was just a genin or about some of the things he had experienced. They knew the Sandaime but never had they spoken to him in such a relaxed way just having fun. They wished that they would have to chance to do it again and Sandaime assured them that his office was always open for them. After that he made his way back to his guest ready for the finals to continue.

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So how was it? I know people might say that Gaara was out of character at the end but it think that the shock of hearing that Naruto was a Jinchuuriki like himself would make him realize that he wasn't alone in the world. In the manga Naruto didn't directly tell Gaara about the Kyuubi (if I remember correctly) but we did see a big change already when he thanked his brother and sister after the fight so maybe my changes in Gaara aren't so farfetched after all.

So next week 'Chapter 19: The invasion starts' AND like promised I'll post the first Chapter of my Harry Potter story (still have to find a suiting title) as well. See you guys then bye.


	19. Chapter 19: The invasion starts

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the next chapter of my story. We're already at Chapter 19, I can't believe how fast it this goes but I enjoy every minute of it. Writing has become one of my favorite pastime so don't worry that I'll abandon this story or any others I may write.

On another note, my exams starts in two weeks and boy they will be troublesome. Why do they have to punish students like this?

Anyway thanks again to all the people who reviewed this week, you're all wonderful people.

Can't think of anything else to say at the moment so I'll let you read the chapter. Enjoy.

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Chapter 19: The invasion starts

The arena had been fully restored from the damage Gaara and Naruto had inflicted during their fight and now thing would start again much to the pleasure of the crowd. They had enjoyed the moment of peace and tranquility after seeing two amazing fights. During the break people couldn't stop talking about the four genins they had seen, a lot of people had been impressed with them and even the older shinobi in the crowd had been talking amongst themselves. But the subject that was discussed the most was without a doubt Naruto and the fact that he performed a jutsu that was considered legendary in the shinobi world. The 'Rasengan' was known by almost every shinobi village and seeing it performed by a genin was nothing short of amazing.

The Sandaime was making his way back to his guest and looked around the crowd smiling when he heard the people talk about how much they enjoyed the matches so far. He hoped that nothing bad would happen but somewhere deep he knew it wasn't meant to be, he had awoken that morning with a feeling that today would be a milestone in the history of Konoha and that today he would have to fight for the survival of the village like every Hokage had to do before him. He just hoped that his old bones would be up to the task of defending the village he loved so much. He dismissed those thoughts when he saw the Kazekage looking his way.

"Ah Kazekage-sama, pardon me for leaving your company during the break. It seemed I lost track of time while talking to my young genins." Sarutobi apologized.

"No worries Hokage-sama, I'm sure you had some questions for the young genin who defeated my son Gaara. That truly was an amazing display." The Kazekage said dismissing the man's apology.

"Yes, I did wonder where he learned that technique but he wasn't willing to tell me anything. Young ones will always have their secrets won't they?" Sarutobi said while sitting down in his seat.

"They sure will, but as his superior you could always order him to tell you, could you not?" The man said.

"I could but I'm afraid that's not the way to deal with young ones especially Naruto. I prefer them to see me as a guide, one they can turn to in time of need instead of that old man that orders them around." Sarutobi chuckled.

Down at the arena Genma was getting ready to start the third match of the finals which would be Sabaku no Temari versus Nara Shikamaru. He kind of felt bad for the rest of the genin who still had to fight. It would be hard for them to live up to the two first fights but he was sure they would show the crowd a good fight. He had heard about this Shikamaru from his friend Asuma, rumor was that while lazy the guy was an actual genius when it came to strategic fighting. Genma looked towards the stand where his leader was sitting and received a nod indicating that it was time to start again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen's, the field has been restored and we're about to begin the next match so please take your seats." Genma called out. "The next match will begin in a few minutes so would Sabaku no Temari and Nara Shikamaru please come down."

Up in the stands Temari just took her fan and jumped and glided down on her fan to the middle of the arena. Shikamaru however wasn't so eager to start the match, he was just getting comfortable watching the clouds in the sky.

"This is so troublesome, why do I have to fight a girl?" He said while getting up. The rest of the genins just laughed since they all knew how Shikamaru felt about doing things he thought were troublesome.

"Come on Shikamaru, just get down there and show them what you got." Ino said trying to encourage her teammate who just looked at her funny. Ino was getting annoyed at her slow moving teammate so she grabbed him by the collar and just threw him into the arena making the crowd burst out in laughter. Temari however didn't appreciate the girl comment from before so she was set on teaching him a lesson. When Shikamaru got to his feet he muttered some words and made his way over to Temari and Genma.

When Genma dropped his hands, starting the match, Temari wasted no time and she attacked with a huge blast of wind that covered the arena in dust. Her fan allowed her to create wind blasts and made her a long range attacker. She knew that her opponent used his shadow to fight so as long she remembered to watch out for that she was sure she could win the match without too much trouble.

Shikamaru had used the terrain to hide from his opponent once the dust cleared. He was at a disadvantage since she had already seen his jutsu during the preliminary's, so he would have to plan this carefully. He quickly came up with a plan to lure her into his trap by making her underestimate him. He took out some of his kunai and shuriken and got ready to start his attack.

Temari was calmly waiting for Shikamaru to come out of his hiding place. She knew that he couldn't hide forever so she waited and tried to conserve her chakra, while her attacks were enhanced by her fan she always used chakra to enforce the effect of the attack. Therefore she had to save her strength in case this turned out to be a long battle. She was looking around the arena trying to find her opponent but so far she hadn't found him. Suddenly she heard the sound of kunai and shuriken flying through the air and she smirked. She wasn't that weak to fall for something as basic as this so she took her fan and blasted the projectiles away with it. The kunai and shuriken just scattered around the arena, not one had even come close to hitting her.

"You'll have to do better than that I'm afraid." She called out but just then a long pointy shadow appeared out of the dust created by her fan, heading straight for her. She quickly started retreating trying to evade the shadow. After several feet the shadow stopped advancing and Temari knew this was his limit, quickly she measured the distance for future attacks. She grabbed her fan with both hands and attacked now that she had found Shikamaru and she created a strong wind that even cut some of the trees in the arena. Shikamaru had no choice but to abandon his hiding place and jumped in the open.

"Finally stopped hiding?" Temari asked with a smile. "It seems your shadow can only stretch that much so if I keep my distance from you then you won't be able to catch me."

"You saw through my technique already? Not bad, guess I will have to try harder." Shikamaru said calmly. "Problem is that I'm not really a fighter, I'm more of a support type but I suppose that's shinobi life right?"

While Temari and Shikamaru were calmly talking Naruto and the rest of the genin were observing the fight. Naruto was surprised to hear Shikamaru say that he would have to try harder knowing that his lazy friend was anything but the hard working type. Ino and Chouji too were surprised even more than Naruto and they looked towards their Jounin teacher for an explanation. Asuma just chuckled at his students face's and took out a new cigarette.

"Sensei, did Shikamaru just say he would try harder?" Ino asked perplexed.

"I guess he did Ino. Don't be so surprised, Shikamaru has trained very hard this past month. Actually, we have Naruto to thank for that." Asuma said looking at Ino.

"Me? What do I have to do with that?" Naruto asked.

"During the preliminary's you said something to him that made him doubt his current way of doing things. After that he came to me asking to prepare him for the finals." Asuma said while looking at Shikamaru. Naruto wondered what he had said but he couldn't really remember so he would have to ask him later on. For now he was going to watch the match.

In the arena things were starting to heat up again as Temari and Shikamaru were preparing their next move. Shikamaru was holding some kunai again while Temari just waited for the attack to come. Shikamaru grinned and threw one of his kunai towards her but even before it reached her he detonated the explosive tag that he had wrapped around it causing a explosion. This was meant so that he could hide once more from Temari's attack.

Temari cursed, she had lost him again and even though she wasn't hurt from the explosion, it had given her a scare. Searching the arena she wondered where her opponent had run to knowing that there weren't many place to hide in the first place. She took her fan and used Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu to cover the arena with cutting winds that even left traces in the walls. Shikamaru just stayed hidden even though one of the winds had cut into his upper arm making blood flow. The wound wasn't that big so he would be fine he mused.

When the winds calmed down Temari was breathing a little harder, she had used a little too much chakra in that last attack. While catching her breath she prepared herself for the next attack, she wondered what her opponent was planning. She didn't have to wait long as several shuriken and kunai came straight at her but like before she just blasted them away with her fan.

"Again the same attack? I won't work, I told you already." She shouted. She saw that the distance between her and Shikamaru was too big for him to use his Kagemane no jutsu. But just then a shadow shot out from behind a tree, the shadow continued towards her so she jumped back just to be sure it couldn't reach her. But to her surprise the shadow reached further than she expected and she narrowly escaped.

She jumped to her right and the shadow seemed to follow her for a while before retreating. She calmed down before looking at her opponent.

"I see, while we were talking the sun sank making the shadow longer giving you more range. Not a bad tactic, too bad it didn't work." She said while planting her fan in front of her.

"Kagemane no Jutsu. Success." Shikamaru just said and before Temari could ask him what he meant she felt herself getting caught by his shadow.

"What? How?" Temari managed to say.

"I'll show you." Shikamaru said turning his head causing her to look behind her. Shocked she saw that he had trapped her by using the shadows of the kunai scattered around the arena. "When I used those kunai and shuriken, it wasn't to try and hit you. It was to use their shadows later on. During the preliminary's I noticed how you defeated TenTen easily so there was no way I would make that mistake. However I knew it would be impossible for me to catch you since you too saw my technique that time. So I formed a plan to catch you off guard."

"You mean that all your attacks were only distractions?" Temari asked bewildered.

"That's right. Using the shadows from the kunai was my plan from the beginning but to use them I had to wait for you to step close enough to them. I used the last attack to distract you from my second shadow who was slowly closing in to you." Shikamaru said while stepping close to her and due to the Kagemane no Jutsu Temari too stepped forward. "Unfortunately for me, that last attack took my last bit of chakra." He slowly raised his hand and looked towards Genma.

"I forfeit." He said shocking almost everybody in the stadium. At the same time his shadow let go of Temari freeing her.

"Why did you forfeit? You had me at you mercy." Temari said not believing the guy in front of her.

"Like I said, my chakra is almost gone and I don't have enough for another attack. I had hoped that my chakra reserves had grown enough during this month of training but it seemed that was a bit too optimistic." He shrugged before turning and walking towards the stairs.

"Winner, Sabaku no Temari." Genma exclaimed.

The crowd cheered loudly, they thought that after the first two matches none of the next matches would be able to compare but they had been treated to a tactical match. The rest of the genin too were surprised at Shikamaru's performance knowing that although he was very smart he was even lazier. Ino however was surprised the most and she was waiting to grill him on the words that he had said during the match.

"Okay, you have some explaining to do mister! Asuma sensei told us that you trained really hard for this match, what gives?" Ino said as soon as Shikamaru arrived.

"Troublesome women always on my case." Shikamaru muttered quietly. "I trained so that I wouldn't get left behind. I mean if Naruto, who was the dead last in the academy can become so strong in only a year than maybe I too could get strong enough to protect my village and family. Naruto told me that during his training he realized that being a shinobi isn't just fun and games but that you risk your live on every mission. My dream was to become an average shinobi and retire when my kids were old enough to get married but now I know that if I'm not strong enough, I will never live to see that day." He explained.

"Wow, that was pretty deep even for you Shikamaru." Ino said astonished at his words.

"Whatever, explaining it otherwise would be too troublesome." Shikamaru shrugged before he put a soldier pill in his mouth to replenish his chakra reservoirs.

The rest of the genin just smiled at Shikamaru, somewhat relieved that the lazy shinobi hadn't changed too much and even the Jounin gathered there were smiling at Shikamaru's and Ino's interaction. Naruto remembered what he had said to his friend at the preliminary's and he was glad that his words had a positive influence. The only one who seemed unimpressed or interested was Sasuke, he was staring at the genins with a scowl on his face.

'Idiots, the whole bunch of them. So what if Naruto got stronger? He is still inferior to me and there's no way I'll lose to the dead last.' Sasuke thought although he was intrigued by that last jutsu Naruto had used.

Down at the arena Genma was getting ready for the next match. He turned toward the Hokage and nodded indicating that he would start the next match. He took a stand and raised his hand calling for silence before calling out both Shino and Kiba who were anxious to fight. They had trained very hard for this match knowing that they would need every advantage they could get.

"All right, let's go Akamaru." Kiba said before jumping down to the arena.

Shino however slowly made his way down using the stairs. Tough nobody could see it, he was slightly trembling from anticipation. This promised to be a good fight, he and Kiba had taken a friendly rivalry with each other, pushing them to get stronger every time. They knew that Naruto was stronger than them but between Kiba and Shino they difference was very small, changing every once in a while.

Naruto was cheering loudly for his teammates, off course he couldn't take sides so he just cheered for a good match. Kurenai and Anko too were cheering for their students, they knew that this match would be exciting even if they hadn't trained with them over the last month. The other genin were just cheering them both on, since they all had become friends of sort thanks to the time they had spent together.

Genma looked at the two genin who were staring at each other, he could feel the excitement in both of them. Just as he was about to start the match Kiba spoke.

"Shino, I won't go easy on you just because you're my friend and teammate. I trained very hard for this match and I'm not going to lose." He said smiling.

"Likewise Kiba, may the best man win!" he said before sticking out his hand. Kiba just grabbed it and shook hands with his fellow genin.

Genma smiled and raised his hands to start the match and dropped them. As soon as his hand came down both genin jumped backwards to prepare for the first attack. Kiba and Akamaru were standing side by side preparing to attack first while Shino just stood there waiting. Kiba was about to attack when all of the sudden Genma jumped between them yelling for them to stop.

"What's going on? Why did you stop the match?" Kiba asked confused.

"Look around you, the whole stadium is under a Genjutsu. We're under attack!" Genma shouted as few dozen foreign shinobi entered the stadium. The shinobi were wearing Suna and Oto headbands and were starting to engage the Leaf shinobi who didn't fall under the Genjutsu.

"Get back to your Jounin sensei and get your orders! The exam is now cancelled, this is war. Go!" Genma said while throwing several senbon at the attacking shinobi. Kiba and Shino didn't need to be told twice and hurried up to the balcony. When they arrived the Jounin sensei's were already fighting some Oto shinobi. Anko quickly called every genin towards her and issued orders. Sasuke however refused to listen and started to look for a shinobi he could fight. No way was he going to leave this place to hide like those other cowards. Anko shrugged thinking Naruto and the rest would be better off without the Uchiha anyway. She could always punish him later for disobeying a direct order which made a small grin appear on her face.

"All right, listen up. We'll take care of the stadium. You guy's help wherever you can, okay? Take down every one that attacks Konoha but stay together. Don't try to be a hero, Konoha shinobi work together to get the job done. My final order is that you survive, do you hear me? Do not get yourself killed." She said looking directly at Naruto and the genin. Then she just grabbed Naruto by the collar and kissed him in front of everybody. "especially you." After that she went to help her fellow Jounin in fighting.

"Ahem, well let's get to work. If you where an attacking shinobi where would you strike first? Come on people, we don't have lots of time!" Naruto said taking control. "the hospital is my guess."

"The Hokage tower! Lots of things there that could be a target." Shikamaru said.

"The academy? Take out future shinobi?" Shino said calmly.

"Good thinking. All right lets split up. Hinata and Sakura you two come with me. We'll go and secure the academy and take out every enemy on the way." Naruto said earning nods for the two girls.

"Ino, Chouji and I will take the hospital." Shikamaru said while looking at his teammates who agreed.

"Shino, Neji, TenTen and I will take the Hokage tower." Kiba said while standing up. He didn't really like Neji but this wasn't the time for petty arguments and even Neji seemed to realize that. The genins nodded at each other and gathered before leaving the stadium each to their target.

Naruto, Hinata and Sakura were jumping across Konoha using the rooftops to get to the academy, they could hear the alarm that sounded throughout Konoha alerting the village of an enemy attack. Thanks to Anko and Kurenai, Naruto and team 8 knew that several precautions had been taken to evacuate the civilians but they were still worried about the innocent people. Suddenly Naruto heard a scream and when he looked down he saw several people cornered by Oto shinobi. He changed direction and put his hand on his sword already unsheathing it halfway while descending on the Oto shinobi. Hinata and Sakura too were taking out some kunai and shuriken to defend the villagers.

"Well, what do we have here? What do you think boy's, maybe we could have some fun?" one of the shinobi said advancing to one of the girls. But before he could reach her he felt an enormous pain, looking down he saw that a sword was sticking out of his chest before dropping down dead. Naruto turned around while throwing a few of his disposable knives, hitting two other shinobi in the head killing them instantly.

Before any of the remaining shinobi could react they too received a kunai in the head courtesy of Hinata and Sakura. Thanking them, Naruto went over to the civilians hoping that he would be able to calm them down.

"It's okay, we're from Konoha. We won't let you get hurt. Why aren't you with the evacuation group?" Naruto asked.

"We were separated from the group during the chaos. We tried to make it to the shelters but we were cornered by them." One of the civilians said not believing that Naruto of all people had saved them. Even though he didn't really hate Naruto, he wasn't friendly either to the boy.

"All right, we'll help you get there." Naruto said before making several Kage Bunshin, one for each civilian. "These clones will take you to the shelters and protect you from attacks."

Each clone quickly grabbed a person and disappeared at fast as they could. Naruto just nodded and the three of them continued their way to the academy.

While this was going on, Iruka was getting nervous. He heard the alarms and he and the other teachers quickly gathered the students. They didn't have much time, Iruka knew that the academy would be a prime target for attack so they had to hurry. Hoping that all the students were gathered they quickly made their way outside, it was important that the kids didn't panic so they told them it was just an exercise but he could hear the sounds of battle quite clearly.

Just as they left the academy a large explosion threw almost everybody on the ground and made several of the younger students cry in fear and panic. Iruka quickly grabbed one of the youngest students and his fellow teachers did the same. They couldn't blame the children after all, they weren't trained for this kind of battle yet. Unfortunately it seemed that his fears came true as he saw several enemy shinobi waiting for them. He put the child back down and slowly stepped forward.

"Please do not hurt the children, they're innocent. Kill us if you have to but leave them alone." Iruka said hoping they would listen.

"Man, Konoha shinobi sure are stupid. We were ordered to dispose of any future shinobi, so no deal." The shinobi in front said taking out a kunai and advancing at Iruka. The chuunin was in serious trouble and he knew it, there was no way he could fight this shinobi and protect his students. The rest of the teachers were also getting ready to fight for their students but they were outnumbered. Just as Iruka was going to attack a loud voice was heard. A voice that brought him hope and strength like none other before. He yelled at the kids to close their eyes and not to open them before he said so, he didn't want them to see what would happen next.

"Tengoku Saidan Kaze no Jutsu"

The enemy shinobi who was advancing at Iruka didn't know what was happening but just then he felt an attack hit him right in the chest stopping him. His fellow shinobi watched at the attack hit their leader almost killing him instantly. The attack had hit him right in the heart and almost cut him in pieces. They instantly became alert and before them arrived three Konoha shinobi, a boy and two girls. The stared at them before becoming enraged that they had killed their leader.

"Iruka sensei, what are you waiting for? Get out of here, we'll take care of these guys." Naruto yelled loudly. Iruka who was shocked at Naruto's attack just nodded before he and his fellow teachers grabbed the kids and started running for the shelter.

"As if we would let you leave here alive!" One of the shinobi said before starting their attack.

Naruto just raised his sword and attacked as well. A quick Kage Bunshin and the fight started with Naruto stabbing the first shinobi in the gut. Hinata and Sakura opted to work together and joined Naruto in defending the academy and making sure the kids got away safely. Sakura who had helped with Hinata's training had learned a lot during their time together, she still was miles behind her new friend but now she could hold her own and it seemed that lot of the Oto shinobi were either genin or low Chuunin so she and Hinata were faring very well against their opponent.

Naruto and his Kage Bunshins dealt fairly quick with his opponents, he too felt that these guys were big in number but most of them were either weak genin or low chuunin. Still he didn't take any chances and showed no mercy towards them. They tried to destroy the village he loved and by doing so they endangered his precious people as well and for that they would pay. He jumped back and used one of his favorite jutsu 'Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu' making several dozens of firefly's that attached themselves to his enemies and with a simple motion of his fingers they exploded killing them painfully.

Hinata and Sakura had been fighting very well and while Sakura wasn't as strong as she could have been she distracted them enough so that Hinata could deliver the final blow by hitting them in the heart with a Jyuken powered blow. When the last of the enemies fell the three of them calmed down a little and relaxed a bit. They took a deep breath and muttered a prayer for the fallen enemies that they had killed, for Sakura this was the first time she had to kill so she was a bit under the weather.

"All right, good job. Sakura don't worry about it now. Talk to us after this is over, we'll help you get over this. For now let's go help the others." Naruto said while putting a hand on Sakura's shoulder. She nodded and followed Hinata and Naruto who were already leaving.

Shikamaru was not having a good time, as they had suspected the hospital was targeted for destruction and while he and his team were holding on for now they wouldn't be able to defeat the large number of enemy shinobi. He looked towards Ino and Chouji and saw that they too were getting tired and out of chakra. When they arrived two chuunin had been holding the enemy back but one of them got killed by a kunai to the head and the other was hurt badly by a Katon jutsu.

They needed help and fast otherwise they wouldn't come out of this battle alive. He ducked another attack before striking his attacker with a kunai in the left temple killing him instantly. He winced at the thought of killing but like Naruto had said, being a shinobi isn't all fun and games. Ino had taking control of one enemy who was now attacking his comrade with a kunai hoping that she could get him off guard. She plunged the kunai in the man's gut before transferring her mind back to her own body. The effect was instant and when the other Oto nin saw him strike one of their own they killed him thinking he was a traitor.

'Another three down yet still so many remain. This is bad.' Shikamaru thought. No matter how much he thought he couldn't see a way out of this fight. He could only hope that reinforcements would arrive soon before they got killed.

Just then all of the remaining Oto nin advanced towards them going in for the kill. Shikamaru sighed and looked at the clouds thinking that this would be the last time he would see them. He then closed his eyes waiting for the attack to hit. Surprisingly it never came and when he opened his eyes he saw that every nin was rooted to the ground.

"Well done Team 10, the three of you make us very proud. We'll handle things from here on out." A familiar voice said from behind the Oto shinobi. Shikamaru couldn't believe his luck when he saw his dad looking at him full of pride and joy.

"Dad? Thank god you guy's made it in time." Ino exclaimed when she too saw her dad before he started killing the shinobi that were caught in Shikaku's shadow.

"Okay you three, congratulations will have to wait until after this is all over. For now let's take care of any remaining hostile shinobi." Inoichi said.

"Dad! Naruto, Sakura and Hinata are at the academy while Shino, Kiba, TenTen and Neji are defending the Hokage tower. We should help them." Shikamaru called quickly.

"Not to worry, Shikamaru. Help is on the way, our first priority was getting the villagers out of here. Now however we start fighting back and Anbu is already on their way." Shikaku said calmly.

Shikamaru and his teammate nodded knowing that the Anbu were the best of the best and with their help things would be in their advantage again. Still they were worried about their friends who were fighting as well. But as they thought that Naruto, Hinata and Sakura arrived before them.

"Forehead girl, you're alive!" Ino exclaimed making Sakura angry.

"Off course I'm alive Ino-pig. I won't lose to you, not now not ever." Sakura retorted making everybody smile.

"The academy students are save, we dealt with the enemies that tried to destroy the academy and kill the students." Naruto said to Shikamaru. "Seems we guessed right when we said they would attack the academy and the hospital."

"Yeah, so the Hokage tower should be under attack as well, we should help them out." Shikamaru said.

"No need for that you two, there were several Anbu stationed at the tower so things should be just fine there. But good thinking on your parts." Chouji's dad said.

"Great, if that's the case I'm going back to the stadium to help out Anko-chan." Naruto before using Shunshin no jutsu.

"Wait Naruto!" Sakura yelled after him. She had seen how Anko had kissed him and she was curious to know what was going on between them.

"Let him go, Sakura. There's no stopping him, he's worried about her even though she's one of the strongest kunoichi in Konoha." Hinata said smiling.

"But what going on between them? You saw it too right, she kissed him. And not just a peck on the cheek, I swear I saw some tongue!" Sakura said blushing and Ino too started blushing as she remembered that kiss.

"Sorry Sakura but I can't tell you about them. I promised not to tell anyone." Hinata said, not wanting to cause trouble for her two friends.

"Way to go Naruto, damn how the hell did you get Anko to do that?" Inoichi exclaimed loudly. Anko was known to be one of the most desired kunoichi in Konoha together with Kurenai and Yugao. Anko was known to flirt with guys but never had she kissed one or allowed one to kiss her. The last one to try spend a long time recovering from her wrath. The three older men then started giggling with a perverted grin on their face causing the three younger girls to hit them on the head.

Naruto was now jumping from rooftop to rooftop on his way back to the stadium, he had already encountered one enemy nin but just cut him down with his sword not really bothering to engage him fully into battle. Seeing the stadium he sped up a little after he noticed a giant cube on top a building right next to it. Arriving at his destination he could see dozens of bodies lying around the arena, he looked around and saw Kakashi and Gai fighting some Suna shinobi to his right. Next he saw Kurenai using some Genjutsu on a poor Oto nin and judging from his screams she used one of her favorite Genjutsu, one that showed your greatest fear. She quickly disposed of her opponent before engaging another fight, Naruto nodded seeing that she would be fine, she wasn't a Jounin for nothing.

Suddenly he heard a loud scream making him look behind him and saw Anko laughing and fighting like she had the greatest time in the world. Seeing that she was alright he looked if any of them needed help but then he remembered the cube and jumped to see what was happening on the roof. When he landed on the roof he saw several Anbu looking inside what seemed to be a enormous barrier of some sort. Intrigued he too looked inside and saw Sandaime fighting two opponents at the same time, and it seemed that he was having a very hard time with them.

"What the hell are you guys waiting for? Go help him!" Naruto yelled at the Anbu.

"Listen kid, we would if we could but this barrier stops us from helping. As soon as you touch the barrier, you get that result." One of the Anbu said while pointing at a body that seemed to be burned horribly.

"There has to be a way to get inside." Naruto said while watching his Jichan fight. " Who are those guys anyway?"

"That the Shodaime and Nidaime, kid." The Anbu said shocking Naruto. "And the one controlling them is Orochimaru, one of the Sannin."

'Goddammit, there has to be something I can do? All right, think Naruto, think.' Naruto thought 'Let's see, it a barrier that's being hold up by four Oto shinobi, according to the Anbu there no weak point in the barrier but that's bullshit. Every jutsu has a weak point.' He said to himself while examining the barrier. 'in theory the weak point should be in the place that's the farthest away from any point that supports it. What's the weakest point in a cube like barrier? Off course the middle point of the top.'

'Okay, found the weak point, now how do I penetrate that barrier without becoming crispy like that guy over there? Jutsu won't help, neither will my sword. The Rasengan? Yeah that could work, but I would have to use my special version just to be sure.' Naruto thought.

"All right, I have an idea but I need your help." Naruto said addressing the Anbu.

"Get real kid, there's no way you can get inside if we couldn't." One of the Anbu said sneering at him.

"Look, either you help me and it works or you can sit here and look how Sandaime gets killed." Naruto exclaimed. The Anbu looked at each other and nodded. They might as well try since the kid seemed sure.

"Fine what do you want us to do?" said the Anbu captain.

"I need you one of you guys to throw me as high as you can up into the air and I will take care of the rest." Naruto said happy that they decided to help.

"No problem but for your sake I hope you know what you're doing. Otherwise you're as good as dead." The man said.

"Huh, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I won't die until I become the next Hokage, you can count on that. Let's get this show on the run." Naruto said with a foxy grin on his face sticking out his hands so the Anbu could grab hold of them.

The Anbu nodded and took both of Naruto's hands in his and held them tightly before he started to swing around to gather strength in his throw. Once he felt that he was going fast enough he threw Naruto as far and high as he possibly could before looking up.

Naruto flew upward a little dizzy from the turning around but he quickly got over it and looked down as he started to fall. He quickly made a Kage Bunshin and grabbed on to it by holding their left hands. Together they put their right hands in front of them just next to each other and they started to gather their chakra. Halfway the fall a large Rasengan appeared about ten times the size it normally was. Naruto and his clone aimed for the point straight in the middle of the top of the barrier before slamming the Rasengan into it.

"Oodama Rasengan"

* * *

How was it? I enjoyed writing and thinking up the fight between Shikamaru and Temari, I tried to make it a little different than in the manga. Wasn't easy but I think I did a pretty good job no?

Now that the invasion has started things will start to change fast for Konoha and our heroes so don't miss the next chapter that will be released next week on Sunday 1st of June.

Thanks for reading and see you guys next week.

PS. For those Harry Potter fans amongst you, I posted the first chapter of my new story titled 'Harry Potter and the promise of a lifetime'.


	20. Chapter 20: The will of Fire

I don't own Naruto or any of its Characters.

Hello everybody and welcome back for the 20th chapter of this story. Yes already 20 chapters long, I can't believe it. When I started writing this story I never thought I would make it this far or that it would be so popular. The story is nearing its 200 000 hits , can be found in over a 100 C2's and has almost 700 review's and I find it just amazing. Thanks to all those who made this possible.

IMPORTANT: in the chapter I made some modifications to the 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Edo Tensei' to make the story more believable. Here Orochimaru will be the one providing the chakra for his summons. This means that he will get tired and lose a lot of chakra and strength after a while. Also (I don't know if this would have worked in the manga) but when those seals that are planted in their head are destroyed the souls of the summons will be released. I did this because I needed to find a way that would allow Naruto to face them together with Sandaime without making him super strong.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the fights but I found it quite hard to come up with a good fighting scene. Hopefully I did a good enough job, if not then let me know.

Any let's end this talking and start reading the chapter shall we? Enjoy.

Chapter 20: The will of Fire

Sandaime had enjoyed Shikamaru's match very much, it showed an impressive talent in strategic and tactical thinking which was something he respected very much. Shikamaru had proven that even when he was fighting with a severe handicap, he could come out on top and even when he had forfeited the match Sandaime deemed it more enough. Sometimes a shinobi had to run so he could fight another day instead of trying to do the impossible and that was something not a lot of shinobi understood.

He looked towards the balcony where the young genin were gathered and smiled when he saw the poor boy being questioned by his teammate. He knew of the Yamanaka temper so he quietly wished the boy good luck. When he saw that Genma was ready to start the next match he nodded and smiled. This time it would be two of Naruto's teammates who would be facing off and he wondered how much they had progressed, if Naruto's own progress was anything to go by this would be a very good match. He would have to remember to congratulated both Anko and Kurenai for doing such an excellent job in training their students.

He saw that both teammates where shaking hands and this pleased him, a bit of rivalry never hurt anybody as long as it stay healthy and friendly but it seemed that he didn't have to worry about Kiba and Shino in that department. Just as the match was about to start a massive Genjutsu made most of the people (expect the more experienced shinobi and genin) fall asleep and he felt someone grabbing him around his neck. He was then transported to the nearby roof and suddenly four Oto shinobi appeared and started doing handseals. When they finished a large barrier surrounded them making it impossible for someone to get through

"Kazekage-same, what are you doing? Please stop this, we can do this another way." Sandaime said hoping he would get his fellow shinobi to see the error in his ways. He then saw dozens of shinobi enter the stadium and hoped that his own shinobi would be able to stop them from massacring his village.

"Kukukuku, I'm afraid that will be impossible Sarutobi-sensei." A very familiar voice rang into Sandaime's ear.

"Orochimaru! So this is all your doing. Why are you here?" Sandaime said even though he knew exactly what was going on.

"I'm here to see the defeat of Konoha." Orochimaru said smirking while disposing of the Kazekage clothes he was wearing revealing a sound uniform.

"You should know better than anyone that Konoha will not be destroyed that easily. And neither will I for that matter." Sandaime said while he took the Hokage clothes off as well which hid his old battle uniform.

"Hmm, I see you're still wearing that old battle uniform from your old days. Nostalgic isn't it." Orochimaru said while retreating a bit.

"I should have never taught you Orochimaru, I was blinded by your talent and didn't see the person you truly were. But I'm going to correct that mistake even if it costs me my life." Sandaime said while taking a stance ready to start the battle.

"You shouldn't force yourself Sensei, after all you're not so young anymore." Orochimaru said calmly.

"I taught you not to underestimate your opponents and you should know that better than anyone. I'm called the professor for a reason." Sandaime said.

"Yes, you did teach me that but you see while you got older, I on the other hand only got younger." Orochimaru said while putting his hand on his cheek. He then pulled on his skin causing it to come off and revealed a young looking person.

"You monster! You completed that jutsu didn't you?" Sandaime asked shocked. He knew Orochimaru had been experimenting on humans to discover a way to gain immortality. That was one of the reasons he was so disappointed in his former pupil since he tortured and experimented on people from Konoha as well.

"That's right, I found a way to eternal life. While you and everyone else ages and eventually dies, I will live on and master every jutsu in the known world becoming the greatest shinobi ever lived." Orochimaru said while laughing softly.

"I see you still don't understand what it takes to be a true shinobi. I said it before the finals started don't you remember? It's not the number of jutsu you know that makes you a shinobi, one become's truly strong when he defends and fights for the village and people he loves." Sandaime said shaking his head.

"Still sprouting that nonsense, you old monkey? You haven't changed a bit and I find it revolting. Change is necessary in this world and things will start with your death!" Orochimaru snickered.

"Even if I'm defeated today, Konoha will never be destroyed. The will of fire will not be extinguished by such a pitiful wind." Sandaime said while thinking of the young genins that he had witnessed fighting today, he had seen how strong they were and he had no doubt that they would protect Konoha to the best of their abilities.

Orochimaru had been growing tired of talking and frankly whatever Sandaime said was pure nonsense in his eyes. The old man was growing senile in his opinion and it was time to start fighting instead of talking. He slowly raised his hands and a grin appeared on his face. He could already imagine the shock on the old man's face when he would use the next jutsu. Sandaime however wasn't about to let Orochimaru attack without retaliating and he too started to make handseals at an astonishing speed.

Orochimaru finished first and put his hands together in a special seal and said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Edo Tensei" before a coffin with the kanji for 'one' appeared out of the ground. Not a second later a second coffin with the number 'two' joined the first one. Orochimaru was ecstatic and continued hoping the next coffin would appeared as well.

Sarutobi who had recognized the Jutsu after the first coffin appeared yelled out "Kage shuriken Bunshin no jutsu" hoping to stop Orochimaru from summoning the next coffin. Unfortunately, he was too late to prevent the second coffin but he had managed to stop the last one. 'Of all the jutsu in world, he had to use that one, this will be harder than I thought.' Sandaime mused.

Orochimaru was somewhat disappointed that the last coffin didn't work but in the end it didn't matter, these two would be more than enough to deal with the old monkey. The coffins opened revealing two shinobi and before Sandaime could stop him Orochimaru planted a kunai with a seal inside the skulls of the shinobi. A second later they opened their eyes and looked straight at Sarutobi.

"It's been a while since we've seen each other, hasn't it, young Sarutobi?" The man who came out of the first coffin said.

"Indeed it has Shodaime-sama, Nidaime-sama." Sandaime said acknowledging the two men in front of him. He felt a small tear form in his eyes from seeing his two sensei's again. These were the men who had taught him what it meant to be a shinobi of Konoha. They had been the ones who inspired him to become Hokage and protect this village and its inhabitants to his fullest potential.

"It seems that we are on opposite sides today, young one. A chance to see how much you have grown over the years." Nidaime said looking at his former student.

"Alright, enough talking already. You can get nostalgic after you guy's meet in the afterlife." Orochimaru said ordering them to attack Sandaime. Seeing that they were controlled by him, the two former Hokage's didn't have a choice and started attacking. The Sandaime's face grow hard and he too got ready to attack or defend.

Sandaime had been fighting for over half an hour now and he was getting tired, he was in his sixties and he didn't have the same abilities like he did in his prime. After summoning Enma, which had taken a reasonable amount of chakra the fight had been going better but using his staff he noticed that he started to have problems to keep up. He had to admit that Orochimaru was an formidable opponent, supplying enough chakra to allow the Shodaime and Nidaime to use their trademark jutsu's would mean that he became very strong. Sandaime was trying to come up with a plan to deal with this difficult situation but no matter how much he racked his brain nothing seemed to come up. At this rate he would be defeated and Orochimaru would have succeeded in at least one of his goals and Sandaime would be dammed if he gave him the satisfaction.

He was preparing for another attack when he suddenly heard a familiar voice above of him. Al four men looked up and saw a huge ball of chakra impact on the barrier and Sandaime looked surprised as he had seen what happened to the anbu who had tried to get through the barrier. He wondered what had possessed Naruto to risk his life to try to get inside. Orochimaru too looked surprised at Naruto's actions but figured that he would just fail in his attempt to break through it. To his amazement he saw that slowly but surely the barrier seemed to give way to the attack opening a hole. Just then the ball of chakra exploded and opened a hole large enough for several people to fit through and not half a second later a blonde shinobi crashed on the roof right between Sandaime and his attackers. The barrier however closed again before anyone else could get in or out.

"Wow, it worked. Have to work on the landing though." Naruto said loudly commenting on his attack.

"Naruto? What was that? How did you get inside the barrier?" Sandaime said shocked.

"Of course it's me, like I would sit still while you were in trouble. And that was my 'Oodama Rasengan', a modification I made on the normal Rasengan." Naruto said while taking his stance alongside his adoptive grandfather.

"Are you insane, there's no way you can compete with a Sannin and two former Hokage's!" Sandaime yelled at him.

"I know that and I'm not here to defeat them, I'm here to help you. I'll distract them and you finish them before they finish us. Isn't that how Konoha shinobi work? Teamwork?" Naruto said frowning. He knew better than anyone else what his level was and that there was no way he could defeat such strong opponents. "Besides didn't you make a promise to a certain someone to be there at her wedding?"

"Kukukuku, Naruto-kun I congratulate you for getting inside but that was a foolish thing to do, now I'll have to dispose of you as well. A genin like yourself has no chance of coming out of this fight alive." Orochimaru said while grinning crazy.

"You're Orochimaru huh? I promised a very special person that I wouldn't seek you out to kick your ass. But I did promise that I would protect everyone from you if I ever had the misfortune of meeting you." Naruto said calmly.

Orochimaru, while outwardly unfazed, was getting irritated by this blonde shinobi. First he defeated Gaara, ruining that part of his plan to destroy Konoha and now he managed to get inside a barrier that he thought was impossible to break into joining the old man in the fight. While he was sure Naruto wouldn't be that much trouble, he had a bad feeling about this and he was going to finish this as soon as possible.

"Naruto, we need to destroy the seal inside their heads that's the only way that their souls can once again ascends to the heavens." Sandaime said quickly hoping that with Naruto's help he would be able to free his former teachers from Orochimaru. "Even if we destroy their bodies they'll regenerate."

"Got it. I suppose Snake-face over there is supplying them with the necessary chakra?" Naruto said looking at Sandaime who nodded. " He's been giving them chakra for a while now, so hopefully he'll be running out soon enough." Despite the situation being serious Sandaime couldn't help but let a chuckle escape when he heard Naruto insulting Orochimaru. Only Naruto would have the guts to insult one of the strongest shinobi in the lands without worrying about what could happen.

"Yeah, but we can't count on that since he is a Sannin. We'll have to take them down first and after that we can worry about Snake-face." He said using Naruto's insult making Orochimaru sneer at them.

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath, he would be facing two former Hokage's and he would need to concentrate and attack carefully. He couldn't afford any mistake as that would get him killed for sure, which would make Anko resurrect him only to kill him again he was sure of that. She could be a real handful if she got mad at him, luckily that only happened once in a while but still, no need to get careless. He took a stance and prepared to attack, Sandaime too got ready and he grabbed the staff beside him with both arms.

"Alright, let's get this show on a run. I have some things planned for tonight." Naruto said while making several Kage Bunshin who surrounded both of them.

Orochimaru was getting slightly angered at the blonde behavior, here was a genin who was facing two former Hokage's and a Sannin and he was acting like this was everyday business to him. At first he found the young genin amusing but that had quickly passed with the name calling and insults. The problem was that the blonde gaki was right about him supplying the necessary chakra for the Shodaime and the Nidaime. Supplying them both with Chakra ate away his reserves and he guessed that he would only have enough for another half hour of fighting. Not only that but he was getting tired just like the kid said, he had expected to kill of the Sandaime quickly and then make his way out of the village letting his subordinates take care of the rest. He had underestimated the old man, thinking that his old age would make him weaker which was true to a certain extend but he hadn't taking his experience into consideration. He used that Jutsu in the hope that the old fool would be emotional distressed by seeing them again but it seemed he was wrong.

Seeing that they were waiting for him to attack Naruto was only happy to oblige and started by sending several Kage Bunshin towards the Shodaime. They didn't get far however as they were destroyed by a tree root that grew out of the ground. However Naruto had used the resulting smoke created by the Bunshin being destroyed to hide his next attack. He quickly summoned several of his throwing knives and aimed for the Shodaime. Off course the Shodaime wasn't a hokage for nothing and saw the attack coming and used his Mokuton jutsu to raise a shield to protect him from the knives. To his surprise the knives just went straight through his shield embedding into his chest. Naruto wasn't finished however and made a handseal which made the exploding tags he had put around the knives explode. Satisfied that the Shodaime was temporarily taken care of Naruto focused on the fight between the Sandaime and the Nidaime.

Sarutobi had seen that Naruto engaged Shodaime and started his own attack. His staff was very special since it was as hard as diamond and could deliver some serious damage. He could also change it length at will making it possible to do both a close range and mid range attack. He knew how his former teacher fought and even if Orochimaru was the one to supply the chakra, that wouldn't change so he had an advantage and he would use to its fullest possibilities. Sandaime took his staff and started attacking, striking from any angle possible making the Nidaime retreat backwards. Soon Sandaime was breathing heavily, these attacks were wearing on his stamina and if he kept this up he wouldn't last much longer. The Nidaime noticed this as well and prepared an attack aimed at the old Hokage. Sandaime recognized the handseals and cursed, this was one of the strongest Suiton jutsu called 'Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu'. When the water dragon was about to hit him two of Naruto's Kage Bunshins grabbed the Sandaime and jumped out of the way. He nodded before once again attacking with the help of the Bunshins.

Naruto was watching how the Shodaime who had reformed his body and marveled at how he made several Bunshin made out of wood. This was the man who had founded Konoha and had created the woods around the village and Naruto felt a shiver of anticipation run through his body. He made no disillusions, he knew that he had no chance of winning against this man had he been fighting the real deal but seeing as Orochimaru was supplying both of them with chakra, he couldn't waste any chakra with flashy techniques. Naruto grabbed his sword and channeled some chakra into the seal. He still had several Bunshin left so he wasted no time and attacked. Kage Bunshin met Moku Bunshin and even though the Moku Bunshin had the stronger body Naruto's Bunshin were equipped with a sword that could cut through virtually anything. While the clones were facing each other Naruto used one of his favorite Kenjutsu techniques 'Tenjou Kaze Saidan No Jutsu' only to have it impact on a tick wooden shield cutting it almost all the way through. Shodaime just grew several branches and ordered them to attack Naruto who had a hard time evading and cutting through them. Naruto raised his sword to use another technique but a branch slammed into his chest sending him across the area. When he crashed Naruto coughed up some blood before standing up again.

'Wow, that hurt. A lot. Can't receive much of those or not even my fast healing will be able to keep me alive.' Naruto thought. 'Those branches are just as bad as Gaara's sand, he can control them at will making it almost impossible to get close.'

Naruto sheathed his sword and summoned something that resembled the handle of a sword but without the blade that he had stored in his holster. He had come up with an idea to attack from a distance but this would be the first he used that jutsu in a real combat. He put the handle into his mouth and started to make some seals before he said 'Katon: Kaen Mushi no Jutsu' before breathing out a long thin thread of fire that seemed to be attached to the handle. Grabbing the handle from his mouth he brought the whip made of fire down onto the wood of the branch he was standing on making a long gash which burnt for a few moments. The whip would remain as long as he channeled chakra into the handle (just like his sword) and was capable of burning almost anything. Unfortunately this attack took way more chakra than his sword did so he was taking a gamble. Making several Kage Bunshin, each with their own whip, he started his attack and he slashed his whip around before bringing it down aimed at the Shodaime. Several branches shot out of the ground and stopped the whip from hitting him in the face. After stopping the whip the branches shot at Naruto but before they could reach him his clones grabbed on to the branches with their whips and pulled them out of Naruto's way giving him a free path straight to the Shodaime. Two other clones got closer and ensnared the Shodaime's arms with their whip holding him in place. Naruto seeing an opportunity dropped his whip and quickly made some handseals and yelled out 'Katon: Kaen Ya No Jutsu' making several arrows of fire shooting out of his mouth at an enormous speed hitting the Shodaime straight into his head destroying it at the same time as well as the seal embedded into his skull. Surprised that his attack worked he saw how the body crumpled revealing a corpse that Naruto recognized as one of the Sound Genin indicating that the Shodaime's soul had been released from Orochimaru's jutsu. He was breathing heavily since maintaining several Kage Bunshin with a Kaen Mushi took quite some chakra but he figured he would be fine in a few minutes to go help his Jichan fighting.

Orochimaru was seething, that blonde took out the Shodaime. While it was true that this Shodaime wasn't fighting to the fullest of his capacities maybe not even at the half of his strength and that the chakra he was able to supply was anything but extraordinary, this was still an incredible strong opponent to defeat. He once again underestimated his enemy, he had wanted to save some chakra and had deemed that the Nidaime needed more chakra since he was fighting the old man. Therefore he had only giving the Shodaime the bare minimum of chakra, just enough to do several jutsu and use the wood element thinking that would be more than enough to deal with the genin. The Shodaime was just above Jounin level when that obnoxious brat defeated him. He was regretting that now, he should have dealt with him first and then focus on the old man. Still he had the Nidaime who seemed to be having the upper hand in the fight and hopefully that would be enough to dispose of those two pests.

Sandaime had not been fairing well since several minutes, he was exhausted and his arms were heavy from carrying the staff and using it to attack. So far he hadn't been able to deal a finishing blow though he had taking several hits himself. The regeneration of the Nidaime was a serious thorn in his side and he wondered if he would get out of this battle alive. But there was no way he would give up now, he had to protect the village so as long as his body didn't break down he would fight just like he did during the wars he had fought. Naruto's Kage Bunshins had long been destroyed and he lacked the necessary chakra to make his own. He cursed as his knees hit the ground showing him just how tired he was, he tried to get up but his body refused to move and when he saw one of the Nidaime's water dragons coming his way he closed his eyes waiting for the attack to hit.

"Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu"

When he heard Naruto's voice from before him he opened his eyes and saw how Naruto and himself were surrounded by a barrier made out of wind. The barrier literally created an upwards wind protecting them, not only that but it seemed that the winds cut everything around them and even the water dragon didn't survive the onslaught. The Nidaime and Orochimaru were forced to evade several of the cutting winds lest they wanted to be cut into pieces by it. When the winds disappeared the Sandaime Hokage was shocked to see the destruction the jutsu had made, inside the barrier made by the sound shinobi almost everything had traces of being cut by the winds. The only place that hadn't taken any damage was inside the wind barrier where Naruto and himself had been.

"Naruto, what the hell was that Jutsu?" Sandaime asked at his partner.

"Hehehe, that was one of my strongest jutsu. It's called 'Kamikaze no Jutsu' and it destroys everything around it while protecting those inside." Naruto said while falling to one knee from exhaustion." Too bad it takes so much chakra to use it though. I probably won't be able to use it anymore."

"Divine winds? It sure looks like it's a punishment from the gods. The damage is enormous." Sandaime said still shocked at the results of Naruto's jutsu. He wondered how Naruto came up with all these jutsu, he truly had a gift at making new jutsu that was sure.

In the meanwhile Orochimaru was catching his breath, that jutsu had surprised him and he had even panicked a little when he felt several of those winds pass him at great speeds. He was sure that he would have been seriously hurt if he had gotten hit. 'Where the hell did he learn a jutsu like that?' he asked himself. Kabuto told him that he was known for making his own jutsu but he thought that they would be useless jutsu only of use to a genin. Never had he imagined the kid to make such devastating and powerful jutsu like that. He would have to get rid of the kid before he got to strong, if he let him live he would become a danger to his future plans and that was something he couldn't allow.

'Goddammit, I should have dealt with him straight from the beginning. Soon I'll be out of chakra to supply the Nidaime and facing the two of them would prove to be dangerous.' Orochimaru thought. 'This resurrection jutsu has more disadvantages than I originally thought. Not being able to attack myself was a huge miscalculation.'

Naruto stood up after resting at bit, profiting of the fact that Orochimaru seemed to be in deep thoughts. He had spend a lot of chakra defeating the Shodaime and using that last jutsu. He knew however that the Sandaime was even worse off than he was judging from the heavy breathing he was doing. They would have to defeat the Nidaime quickly and hope that Orochimaru was too tired to fight the both of them. He pulled out a soldier pill out of his pouch and quickly ate it restoring some of his chakra, he would have given one to Sandaime but he knew that the old man's body wouldn't be able to take it. The soldier pill was a special pill that returned some of the lost chakra and energy but it also put a heavy strain on the body, that's why you couldn't take soldier pills too soon after another.

"Jichan, I'll distract him and drive him towards you. When you see an opening, don't hesitate and finish it." Naruto whispered. "just rest for now and gather some strength okay?"

Sandaime nodded though he was kind of mad that he was the one who needed to be protected but there was nothing he could do about that right now. He would have to swallow his pride and wait for the perfect time to strike. Naruto was a little worried, the pill he had taken restored some chakra but it wasn't nearly enough to his taste. He would have to save some of it for afterwards but right now he had to deal with the Nidaime in front of him. He made several Kage Bunshin and ordered them to protect the Sandaime while he rested.

He took out his sword again and jumped forward to attack slashing at his opponent. The Nidaime evaded the attacks with relative ease and started to push Naruto back with his own attacks. They matched each other blow for blow but it seemed like Naruto was losing the exchange and Sandaime tried to get up. Before he could get up however a Kage Bunshin put his hand on his shoulders while shaking his head. Sandaime nodded and sat back down.

'Is this part of your plan Naruto? What are you aiming for?' Sandaime thought while focusing on the fight.

Naruto was slowly moving in Orochimaru's line of sight, as long as Orochimaru could see them he could warn the Nidaime of an attack from Sandaime and that was exactly what he didn't want. By guiding himself directly in front of Orochimaru he would take care of that. He had someone in mind to help him with his plan but he needed to be patient, not an easy thing when one of the strongest shinobi ever was attacking you with the intent to kill you. He signaled one of his clones to get ready and to inform the Sandaime of his plan.

"Jichan, when Naruto distracts them he wants you to ask Enma to grab the Nidaime and hold him so you can destroy the seal inside." The clone whispered. Sandaime nodded slightly showing he understood even if he didn't know what distraction Naruto was going to use.

Naruto had finally reached his desired location and he dropped his sword quickly after running his thumb across the blade making it bleed. He then did several seals before slamming his hand into the ground and yelled 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'. A huge cloud appeared and a large toad came out of it blocking everything from Orochimaru's sight. Naruto hoped the attack worked since this had cost him almost all of his remaining chakra. Sandaime leaped into action with Enma grabbing Nidaime by surprise, he took out one of the knives Naruto had made for him and stabbed it into the Nidaime's skull destroying the seal. The Nidaime's body crumpled before his eyes and Sarutobi quickly apologized to his onetime teacher before turning towards Naruto.

Orochimaru couldn't believe what just happened, he had been played by a mere genin. No seeing anything because of the large toad in front of him he felt his control on the Nidaime disappear and knew he was defeated. This meant that he would be fighting them two to one. Sure they may be a old man and a genin who were tired and exhausted after fighting such formidable opponent but he too was almost out of chakra. His plan to kill his old sensei and destroy this pathetic village had not gone the way he had imagine it. He turned towards the two Konoha shinobi when he heard the Sandaime's voice calling him.

"Orochimaru, your plan has failed. Give it up, you can't win. It's over." Sandaime yelled loudly.

"Shut up old man. This isn't over yet. " Orochimaru exclaimed before he opened his mouth and a sword appeared. This was the legendary Kusanagi sword and it was one of the strongest swords ever made. Orochimaru grabbed it and rushed over towards the old Hokage intending to strike him right in the heart. The Sandaime however was incapable of moving from exhaustion and could only watch as his death came running towards him. Naruto however wouldn't let Orochimaru take one of his precious people away from him so with his last strength his jumped in front of the Sandaime and took the hit in his place.

He cried out in pain when he felt the blade pierce his right side narrowly missing a vital spot. Orochimaru who didn't suspect that the kid would take the blow could only smirk at the sight. Sure he wanted to deal with the old man first but this was just as good. He started laughing but stopped quickly when Naruto grabbed his arms with so much strength that he couldn't break free. He looked at Naruto and saw that he was smiling.

"Hey Snake Face, I'm sure you know who I am right? So you know that the Kyuubi is sealed inside me." Naruto said while coughing up some blood.

"So what? Don't think you scare me, you pitiful genin." Orochimaru sneered at Naruto.

"I'm not trying to scare you. Did you know that I'm unable to use medical jutsu? Medical jutsu requires raw chakra to heal wounds however there's a small side effect from having the Kyuubi sealed inside me." Naruto said while putting some pressure on Orochimaru's arms. When Orochimaru looked at Naruto's hands he saw that chakra with a reddish tint was gathered around them and winced when he felt ten claws made of chakra pierce his skin.

"When I trained I found out that my raw chakra always has a very small amount of Kyuubi's chakra mixed with it making it unusable for medical jutsu. Do you want to know why?" Naruto said not really asking."It's because the Kyuubi's chakra is poisonous to anyone but myself. It's so potent that even the smallest bit can cause severe damage."

Naruto then used his claws to cut up Orochimaru's arms from the shoulders to this wrists making Orochimaru scream out in pain. Orochimaru staggered back from the pain in his arms, he felt like they were burning up from the inside.

"Argh, what did you do to me? What is this jutsu?" Orochimaru snarled at Naruto.

"It burns doesn't it? At this very moment that small amount of Kyuubi's chakra is destroying your chakra coils inside your arms making it impossible to ever use jutsu's again. Not only that, your muscles and blood vessels are being destroyed as well rendering your arms completely useless." Naruto smirked while falling down. The wound made from the Kusanagi was bleeding badly and it hurt like hell as well.

Orochimaru couldn't believe what he was hearing. His arms had been destroyed by a genin, his ambition and dreams would end because of the Kyuubi container. No, there was no way he would accept that to happen. The pain however was getting to much for even him and retreat was the only option. For now he would let them live but he would get his revenge eventually, he would make sure of that.

"You'll pay for this Uzumaki Naruto. I swear that I will see you and this village destroyed. Next time we meet will be the day you die, count on that. RETREAT." Orochimaru yelled out and immediately the four nin who held up the barrier were at his side helping him up before jumping away from the roof.

Sarutobi slowly got up and made his way over to Naruto to help him with his wound. Even though he knew about his healing factor he was still worried about his adoptive grandson. He had been very impressed with Naruto, not only fighting a Jinchuuriki like himself and winning but then fighting not one but two former Hokage's and injuring a Sannin was beyond anything he had expected from the boy. He sat down next to him and saw that Naruto was looking up at the sky with a huge smile on his face and Sandaime too couldn't help but fall on his back and look up at the blue sky. They had survived a battle only described in legends and both of them were sure that this fight would be talked about for years.

"Hokage-sama, are you okay? Do you need a medic?" The anbu captain asked. They had seen the entire battle from outside the barrier and they were very impressed by Naruto. Never had they seen a battle like that before and the fact that a genin was one of the fighters was nothing short of amazing.

"We're fine Anbu-san. Do not concern yourself with us, go help the others in securing the village." The hokage said tiredly. The village was his main concern right now.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. We have reports that indicated that the counterattack worked perfectly. The last of the enemy shinobi are being rounded up and taking in for questioning. It seemed that Sabaku no Gaara personally stopped many of the Suna shinobi from attacking making the enemy force much smaller than anticipated." The Anbu captain said.

"Very well, I expect your rapport on my desk in two days. For now, help the rest." Sandaime said dismissing the Anbu. "It seems you made a real good impression on Gaara if he wanted to help our village."

"Yeah, I guess so. What will happen to them, jichan? Are they going to be punished?" Naruto asked a little worried for his newest friend.

"Do not worry Naruto, I will personally see to it that Gaara and his teammate's are treated well and with respect. We owe him a great deal for stopping his fellow shinobi from attacking." Sandaime said with a smile on his wrinkled face.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes thinking about all the things that had happened today. Surely he would be remembering the day for a very long time, he sure hoped he wouldn't have to fight in a battle like that again anytime soon. If he learned one thing from this battle it was that he still had lots of improvement and training to do but that would have to wait until he was rested and healed. The wound from Orochimaru's sword was already healing but he could feel that it would take a few days before he would be a hundred percent again. Just then he heard a very familiar voice calling him and it seemed to be a very angry voice as well.

"UZUMAKI NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING FIGHTING OROCHIMARU LIKE THAT!" the voice yelled before he felt someone help him up and hugging him very tightly. He recognized his girlfriend and returned the hug. Not a second later he felt a fist hitting him on the head remembering him that she was pissed beyond belief.

"A-Anko chan, I can explain really. I didn't mean to fight him but I couldn't let jichan fight alone." Naruto said trying to calm her down. " Oi, jichan help me out here, will you?"

"Don't bring me into this Naruto, you brought this upon yourself." Sandaime said laughing loudly. The other Jounin sensei's had gathered as well after seeing Anko storm off.

"Hey, what happened to Konoha's famous teamwork? Some partner you turn out to be." Naruto said while glaring at the Sandaime causing more people to laugh.

"Do you have any idea what I went through when I saw you breaking through that barrier? Huh? I swear to God, if you ever pull a stunt like that again I'll, I'll, …. I don't know what I will do yet but it's going to hurt as hell. Do you hear me Uzumaki Naruto?" Anko yelled at him while holding a kunai close to his crotch.

"H-Hai Anko-sama." Naruto squeaked earning some more laughs from the crowd.

"Good." Anko said before she grabbed him by the collar and kissed him in front of everybody. Naruto was a little shocked that she would kiss him in front of all her colleagues but soon he kissed her back, glad that both of them were fine and survived the attack on their village. Since none of them except Kurenai knew they were a couple most were staring at the two of them in disbelief. Here was one of the sexiest kunoichi in Konoha, one that a lot of men chased after and Naruto was the one she was kissing. Kurenai laughed at the men's faces and the fact that she could almost feel a bit of envy and jealousy in the air coming from the men. When she was satisfied from the kiss Anko released him and held him close not wanting to let him go. Naruto off course was only happy to return the hug.

"Anko-chan, how is everybody else? Is everyone ok?" Naruto asked while stifling a yawn. He was having trouble staying awake after all this fighting.

"Everyone's fine, don't worry. They all did fantastic, you have made us all very proud." She said smiling at him.

"Good, if you don't mind I would like to take a little nap right now. I feel a little tired." Naruto said while closing his eyes. Anko nodded and she sat down so he could lie down.

The rest of the Jounin were surprised to see Anko react this way since she was known to be a bit eccentric to say the least. Seeing her like this they knew Naruto must have a huge influence on her and most of them were glad to see the two of them so happy. They all knew about how Anko and Naruto were treated sometimes in the village because of their pasts. The Sandaime struggled to get up and was helped by Gai who was shouting how youthful his hokage must be if he still had the strength to get up after the fight. Luckily the others distracted him when they told him to go check up on Lee which made him leave in a hurry. They liked the man but his shouting was something that they could do without at the moment so better to deal with it this way. The Sandaime walked to the edge of the roof and looked over the village and sighed happily. Though there was lot of damage, Konoha had survived an attack head on and he had survived but he had made up his mind. One thing Orochimaru had said was true, things would have to change to ensure their survival. Konoha had been stagnant for too long. He would deal with that in a few days though, now he needed a rest and then things would start happening again.

So, how was it? Were the fights believable enough without making Naruto to strong or did I go overboard?

I liked writing the little Naruto/Anko scene at the end, I think that would be a normal way for them to react after such a high tension battle. Both relieved and happy that they made it through and without any serious injuries.

Next 'Chapter 21: A new start' will be released on Sunday the 8th of June so see you guys then.

PS: Chapter 2 of my Harry Potter story is also released today so for those Harry Potter fans amongst you give it a read if you feel like it.


	21. Chapter 21: Namikaze Naruto

I don't own Naruto in any way.

Hello everybody and welcome once again for the new chapter of this story. This week the story went over the 200K mark in hits and I wanted to thank each and everyone of you for making this possible. It's amazing just how many people read and review for this story so thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Things have been busy these past few weeks with studying and tomorrow my exams start so I'm quite nervous about that. I hope to pass them but it will not be easy, there's just so much I have to learn. Ah well, no sense in panicking now I suppose, we all went through those times didn't we?

Any way enjoy the chapter and let me know your remarks or suggestions.

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Chapter 21: Namikaze Naruto

Naruto wake up feeling great and well rested. He looked around and saw the familiar bedroom in Anko's apartment. He got out of bed and went to look for Anko, who he knew was home since he had woken up from the sounds of someone showering. He entered the kitchen and saw his girlfriend standing there wearing nothing but a towel exposing a serious amount of skin. Though he was used to it by now, she still had an effect on him and she knew it all too well. She loved to tease him and try to embarrass him whenever she got the chance and secretly he liked it as well.

"Good morning Anko-chan." Naruto said slowly hugging her from behind her making her spin around so she could face him.

"Good morning to you too Naruto-kun." She said before kissing him. "finally awake huh? It took you a while, I thought you would be up much sooner than that."

"How long have I been out?" he asked surprised.

"You've slept for two whole days. But I guess you deserved some rest so I let you sleep." She said grinning. "but don't think for one minute that you're out of the dog house mister! I'll find a way to punish you for that stunt you pulled."

"Two days? I slept for two days? Wow, what happened while I was asleep?" Naruto asked. "and I'm sorry for fighting Orochimaru but if I didn't help Jichan he would have been killed and that was something that I couldn't allow to happen."

"I know, just because I'm a little mad doesn't mean I don't understand the reason why you fought. And I'm very proud of you, you were amazing Naruto. Lots of people have been talking about you and the rest of the genin but more on that later." Anko said while sitting down to eat her breakfast. "for now you need to take a shower and eat because the Sandaime asked to see you as soon as you were awake."

Naruto nodded and quickly went to take a shower which he enjoyed very much before getting dressed and eating breakfast. Anko too had gotten dressed and was ready to leave and a good twenty minutes later they were walking to the Hokage tower. Naruto watched around looking at the damage Konoha had suffered from the attack, his village had taken some heavy blows but he was sure that they could and would repair everything with time. When they passed a large crowd Naruto was surprised that some of the people smiled at him or even waved at him and he looked at Anko for an explanation.

"A lot of people have heard how you helped saving the Hokage and how you fought to protect the village." She answered softly. "the people of Konoha love the Sandaime, he's always kind and caring. They want to thank you for saving their leader Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded a little red from the praise and the stares he was getting but unlike before these were stares of kindness and some form of respect for him. He couldn't be more happier, maybe he had succeeded a little in his dream that the people of Konoha would see him as Naruto and not as the Kyuubi child. He thought about it for the rest of the trip to the tower and vowed to keep doing his best to prove his was anything but a demon. When they arrived at the tower they went straight for the Hokage's office and to his surprise all the rest of the genin were gathered there as well. Before he got a chance to ask however they were told to go inside. When they entered the office they saw that beside the Hokage all of the Jounin sensei's, Iruka sensei, Ino-Shika-Cho senior team and Hyuuga Hiashi were gathered there.

"Ah welcome, I'm glad to see all of you in good health, please take a seat everyone." The Sandaime said while happily puffing on his pipe. When everyone had found a seat he continued. "First of all let me say how proud I am to know each and every one of you. You have proven yourself to be excellent shinobi of the Leaf and you have defended you home village splendidly and for that you have my thanks."

"Now, let us get to the real reason we called you here today. Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and TenTen please step forward." The hokage asked to which the genin got up and took a step forward a little confused.

"Hyuuga Neji, during you fight in the finals you have shown an mastery of the Hyuuga techniques like few did before you. When the attack hit us, you were willing to put your personal differences aside for the good of Konoha and for that I thank you. You and the genin beside you fought alongside with the Anbu to protect this very tower and it secrets and while I can't award you the rank of Chuunin let it be known that the Anbu were very impressed with the four of you." Sandaime said. "They have told me that if any of you would ever like to join the Anbu they would be waiting."

"Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, I'm sure the two of you were as disappointed as I was when your match was interfered and cancelled by the attack. I would have loved to see the fight between the two of you. Like Neji I can't award you with the rank of Chuunin but once again the Anbu were impressed and they will keep an eye for the two of you." He said smiling at Kiba's shocked face.

"TenTen, while you didn't fight during the finals you fought marvelously during the invasion and according to the Anbu you're well on your way to become Konoha's next weapons mistress. They were very impressed at the way you fought. You too will be granted an invitation to join the Anbu when they think you're strong enough." The Sandaime said with pride. TenTen was a bright red color by the time the hokage was finished and could hardly believe the praise she had gotten. The four genin were told to sit down which they quickly did.

"Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji please step forward." The Hokage said calling for the next group of genin. "The three of you protected Konoha Hospital from destruction and hereby saved dozens of lives, I thank you for the bottom of my heart. You have impressed many people with your actions and your fathers and I have decided that the three of you are ready to learn the more advanced clan techniques of your respective family." He said making the genin look towards their dads earning a nod from them.

"Nara Shikamaru, during your fights in the Chuunin exams you have demonstrated to possess an excellent mind capable of strategic thinking. You have shown us that you understand what the best actions are in any given situation. A shinobi is not someone who only fights, a shinobi knows when it is time to fight and when not. You forfeited your match even when you won the battle for the right reasons, sometimes it's better to fight another day. For your understanding of this and for your incredible demonstration I hereby award you the rank of Chuunin. Congratulations." Sandaime said handing a Chuunin jacket to Shikamaru who accepted it with pride. The rest of genin clapped glad that their friend had been recognized for his hard work.

"Uchiha Sasuke, please step forward." Sandaime said making Sasuke step up with a smirk on his face. "you have fought well during the invasion, helping defeat the enemy that attacked the stadium and for that I thank you. Unfortunately I cannot make you a chuunin for several reasons, the first is that you should have been disqualified for the finals for coming late" Sasuke's smirk disappeared soon after that "and secondly you disobeyed a direct order from a superior shinobi. Sasuke, do not presume your name will grant you everything. Had this been a normal mission you would have been punished for insubordination but the Jounin in question asked for a verbal warning only. Consider yourself lucky." Sandaime finished sternly.

"Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto please step forward." He continued. "The three of you saved not only Iruka here but also all of our future shinobi. Had the three of you not been there I would have to inform a lot of parents that their son or daughter had been killed for being an academy student. Thank you for not making me do that, there is nothing worse than informing someone that their child has been killed." He solemnly said.

"Haruno Sakura, it is said that admitting a mistake is harder than making one and I find this being true. You admitted being wrong in your ways of becoming a kunoichi and you have redeemed yourself with the help of your friends. I am very proud of you and so is your Jounin sensei and we expect you to continue to work hard. You have become a true kunoichi of the Leaf and I'm sure you'll become very strong." He said looking at Sakura who had tears in her eyes from happiness.

"Hyuuga Hinata, of all the people here you are the one who impressed me the most. Your fight with Neji was nothing short of amazing, for someone as young as yourself to start creating a powerful Taijutsu style capable of fighting the Jyuken on equal level is absolutely amazing. I hope you keep on working very hard now that you have shown us just how strong you truly are. I know you father would like to say a few words so please listen to him." Sandaime said looking at Hiashi who nodded. Hinata turned to her dad and prepared for the worst.

"Hinata, for many years I saw your kindness and gentleness as a weakness unfit for a heir of the Hyuuga family. I made you suffer for several years and I cannot even begin to imagine how much you must resent me for it. I can only say how sorry I am and that I will try to be a better father for you. You have proven yourself to be strong and I have never been so glad that I was wrong about something. Your mother would be so proud of you Hinata, I know I am. " Hiashi said while looking at his daughter. Hinata was shocked when she heard her father words, not only did he apologize but he even told her he was proud of her. This was something she had wanted to hear for years and she couldn't help but a few tears of happiness ran down her cheeks before she went over to give her estranged father a small hug showing that she forgave him. She then returned to her place alongside Sakura and Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto, what can I say that hasn't already been said today? During the Chuunin exams you've shown me that you have surpassed my wildest expectations. You defeated Gaara, who was nothing more than a killing machine but you didn't only defeat him you changed him as well. You showed him that a life of killing people isn't the only way, you saved him from himself and that is something that not many people can achieve. During you fight you used a technique thought lost when the Yondaime Hokage died while protecting this village, a technique beyond most of the Konoha shinobi, a technique that not even I can perform." The hokage said earning a gasp from most of the genin. They had been told about that technique but they didn't know it was so special and hard to perform.

"You helped taking control of the situation after receiving your orders from your sensei and showed that you are capable of leading a team. Therefore it's my pleasure to award you with the rank of Chuunin. Congratulations, you've earned it." Sandaime said beaming with pride when he handed the jacket to his adoptive grandson.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Naruto said while accepting it. He was enormously happy, he had done it. He had become a Chuunin, he was a step closer to realizing his dream of become Hokage and he couldn't be prouder of himself. The rest of the genin (except one brooding Sasuke) congratulated Naruto and told him that he deserved it.

"As a final word, I would like to say that each and every one of you have made me and your Jounin sensei very proud. You have made Konoha proud and have shown to us that each and every one of you possess the 'Will of Fire'. Continue to work hard to protect the village and those you love. All of you are dismissed except Naruto and Anko." He finished before dropping in his chair. He still needed some more rest but he couldn't afford to do nothing, the village needed him right now.

"Sit Naruto, the official part is over you can relax now." Sandaime said joking. He knew how much Naruto hated formalities no matter what. Naruto grinned and sat down with Anko next to him. "First of all, let me congratulate you again on making Chuunin. You earned it."

"Thanks jichan. That means a lot to me." Naruto said smiling.

"Naruto, I owe you my live. If you hadn't broken into the barrier to fight alongside with me I wouldn't have survived of that I'm sure." Sandaime said.

"Stop it Jichan, I'm just repaying you for everything you did for me. Besides its only normal that I would help you, you're the leader of the village I love and you're one my precious people." Naruto said making it sound like he did the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fine, anyway the reason why I still needed to talk to you is the following. Now that you made Chuunin, you can use your dads name if you want. If you choose to use it then I will announce it to the village tonight." He continued.

"Off course I want to use dads name but what is happening tonight?" Naruto asked.

"Tonight is the funeral of the people who died during the attack and I will have to speak to the crowd. Moral is at an all time low now Naruto, though we suffered much less damage than we expected we still lost 13 shinobi. Therefore I personally think that the village could use some good news for once." Sandaime said while looking out the window. Naruto nodded, he understood the importance of keeping the villagers occupied and somewhat happy otherwise problems would start appearing and that was something they couldn't deal with right now.

"I'm old Naruto, too old to be Hokage. Orochimaru was right in one thing, things need to change and therefore I will be retiring from the post of Hokage as soon as possible." Sandaime said shocking both Naruto and Anko who started protesting. "calm down, both of you. I have a successor in mind who will do an excellent job."

"Ah, so you finally saw reason. Fine give me the hat, old man. I'll take care of the village for you." Naruto said jokingly making both Anko and Sandaime laugh.

"Thank you Naruto I needed that. I'm sorry but while I'm sure that one day you will be Hokage for now you'll have to wait." He said making Naruto pout in his seat. "but I have a request, I want you to join Jiraiya in finding my successor. She's my former student and she'll do fine as a Godaime Hokage."

"You mean Tsunade-sama is your chosen successor?" Anko asked surprised.

"Really? You want her to become Hokage? It thought you told me she hated the village after losing her brother and lover in the war."Naruto said.

"While it is true Tsunade left the village, she doesn't hate it. It's just too painful for her to remain here where everything reminds her of those she lost. Jiraiya is looking for clues to where she might be and he'll be back by next week." Sandaime explained.

"But why do you want me to go with him? I mean, I don't even know the woman how can I help then?" Naruto asked confused about his part.

"Naruto you convinced a Jinchuuriki who had been killing for years to give up that way of living. If anyone has a chance at convincing Tsunade in becoming Hokage it's you." Sandaime laughed. Naruto just looked at Sandaime but nodded, in fact he was anxious to meet Tsunade. She was one of the strongest shinobi the Leaf had ever had and maybe she could teach him some stuff beside medical jutsu.

"So I'll leave next week? Fine by me, just send Ero-sennin to come and get me." Naruto said.

After Sandaime told him to be ready for the revelation of his name later tonight he dismissed them saying that his friends were waiting for him outside. Both of them nodded and left to find the rest of the genin, Jounin sensei's and their fathers. They didn't have to search long as they were waiting for them just in front of the tower and they quickly made their way over to them.

"Hey everybody, what going on?" Naruto asked.

"Ah Naruto, Anko now that the two of you are here we can get to business. We're going to celebrate off course. I mean you and Shikamaru have made Chuunin and the rest of the genin have received the Hokage's personal thanks." Kurenai started. "This calls for a drink." On the way they encountered Lee, who was still injured badly, and Gai and they too were invited to join them.

At this everybody, except Sasuke who left saying that he had better things to do, cheered and followed Kurenai. They went to a small restaurant (Chouji was complaining he was hungry) and ordered lots of drinks and food. They were talking amongst each other and were having a great time, talking about how proud they were of themselves and what they had planned for future training.

"So Naruto, can I ask you a question?" Kakashi asked looking up from his orange book.

"Sure thing Kakashi-sensei but I can't promise I'll be able to answer it." Naruto said from across the table.

"What exactly happened after you penetrated that barrier? I mean they're plenty of rumors going around but what really happened?" He asked interested. The others were now listening as well seeing they too wanted to know.

"Well…." And for the next 20 minutes Naruto told them how he fought alongside Sandaime to defeat Orochimaru though he didn't explain why his raw chakra had such an effect on Orochimaru's arms. Everybody was listening so intently that most of them forget about the food and drinks (well except Chouji and his dad). This was nothing like the rumors they heard, some parts were the same but in the end the truth was even more shocking that the rumors.

"Holy shit!" Kiba exclaimed, earning a slap on the head from Kurenai for his language. Everybody laughed but they all thought the same thing as Kiba.

"YOSH, NARUTO-KUN FLAMES OF YOUTH ARE BURNING WILDLY. DID YOU HEAR LEE? WHEN YOU'RE HEALED WE'LL HAVE TO WORK HARD." Gai yelled out making everyone but Lee wince at the volume.

"YES GAI-SENSEI, AND IF I CAN'T BECOME AS STRONG AS NARUTO THEN I WILL RUN A 1000 LAPS AROUND KONOHA WITH EXTRA WEIGHTS" Lee added loudly.

"AND IF YOU CAN'T DO THAT, THEN I WILL CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT WITH ONLY ONE HAND AND…" Gai would have continued but Asuma held his hand over Gai's mouth saying they understood.

"But seriously Naruto, how did you get that strong?" TenTen asked. She had been very impressed with his sword and when she had heard that he forged it himself her respect for the blonde Chuunin went through the roof.

Naruto thought for a second before he looked at Anko and smiled. He put his arms around her, grabbing her into a hug and kissed her on the cheek before turning back to TenTen. Everyone was looking at the two of them.

"TenTen, I'm strong because I had the best teacher someone could ever have. She taught me everything I know and without her I wouldn't be half the shinobi I am today. Anko-chan here trained me for six months and during that time I realized what being a shinobi is all about. After that I joined Team 8 and Kurenai-sensei, and they are without a doubt the best team I could ever have joined. We trained and lived together, helping each other getting stronger and better shinobi. Finally there's Sandaime-jichan, he taught me that a shinobi can get truly strong when he fights to protects the ones he loves and that became my motivation." Naruto said while still holding Anko in his arms.

"I think I understand but still Naruto, you were the dead last in the academy and now only a year later you're the strongest of us all." Ino said softly, she didn't want to hurt Naruto's feelings by calling him dead last again.

"Ino, there's a reason why I was the dead last and someday I'll you tell all about it but for now it needs to be a secret. I hope you understand?" Naruto said. Ino nodded not wanting to lose the fragile friendship she had started with Naruto during the month before the finals.

"I have a question if you don't mind." Asuma said and Naruto just nodded to show he didn't mind at all. "What's between you and Anko?"

"I love her. She's my teacher, my best friend and hopefully one day the mother of my children though that's still in the far future." Naruto answered with a smile. Anko who heard the mother part just turned to him and kissed him soundly on the lips showing just how much she like that idea.

After that the girls grilled Anko about how they got together while the men congratulated Naruto for landing one of the sexiest kunoichi in Konoha. They continued to talk and eat for several hours before they had to get ready for the funeral service later that day. They promised to meet each other there and went to their respective homes. When Naruto and Anko arrived at her apartment they still had some time left so they cuddled on the couch happy to have each other. After resting a bit Anko told him that she was going to get a shower while Naruto picked out his clothes for the service. He would have to be presentable when the Sandaime announced his heritage to the village. He went over to his closet and started going through his clothes. Finding a long-sleeved black shirt he grabbed it and put in on the bed, next he found a dark blue pants with he thought would go great with the dark shirt. On top of his shirt he would wear a black jacket, all in all he looked quite handsome in all black but seeing as this was a funeral service black was the only color acceptable in his mind.

Anko stepped out of the shower feeling somewhat nervous for the events later on, the funeral she could deal with as she didn't know any of the fallen shinobi. She was nervous about the announcement of Naruto's heritage and what the consequences could be like for them. She was a little worried about how the towns people would react after hearing that the Kyuubi brat was none other than the Yondaime's son. Naruto's reputation had changed quite a bit after his battle alongside the Sandaime but it wasn't to say that everyone loved him or respected him, that would be impossible as changes like that need time. She stepped into the bedroom and saw Naruto standing fully dressed and she had to admit he looked great in them, seeing him standing there she unconsciously licked her lips in desire but she shook her head saying that there wasn't time for that. She quickly open her closet and grabbed her dark dress and nodded, she didn't like wearing such clothes but for a funeral she only wore this, it was a beautiful dress that wasn't too revealing but still stylish and somber. After getting dressed she stepped outside the room and saw Naruto staring at her, she smirked loving that she could have such an effect on her lover.

After both of them got ready they left for the Hokage tower were the service would be held. The tower had enough open space to allow the village's shinobi's to gather, the funeral was only accessible to shinobi and family so that was more than enough space. When they arrived the saw that the other were already there waiting for them, nodding to everyone the shinobi silently made their way over to the front so that they could pay their respects to those who had fallen to protect Konoha. Almost every shinobi had or would have to come to such a ceremony so most of them knew what they had to do or what would happen. When everyone had gone forward the Sandaime slowly got up and walked to the front of the podium and looked at those present.

"Our village has suffered a great loss, a loss that will be felt for years to come. In the attack on Konoha several days ago we didn't just lose several shinobi, we lost husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. Each of the shinobi had loved ones that the protected by paying the ultimate price, they fought not only for this village but also for those gathered here today. We will miss them greatly but we will never forget them, they are heroes and thus should be honored as one." Sandaime started his words. "They have shown us what it means to be a Konoha shinobi and I for one could not have been more proud of them. Fallen heroes of Konoha, I thank you." He finished while bowing deeply to the coffins making everyone gathered there do the same.

The rest of the ceremony was spend in silence as one by one some of the family or friends of the deceased came forward and spend a few memories with the crowd. Soon the service came to an end and Sandaime asked them to gather at the town's main square for an important announcement that concerned the whole village. Wondering what kind of announcement this could be they all followed the crowd to the main square. When they arrived they saw that a lot of people had gathered there already. Anko and Naruto were asked by an Anbu to follow him to see the Hokage, making the rest of the group wonder what was going on. Kiba, Shino, Hinata and Kurenai smiled knowingly already figuring out what was going to happen next. A half hour later the Sandaime finally made his appearance at the stage silencing the crowd.

"People of Konoha, we're gathered here today after Konoha suffered from an enemy attack. We lost some good people to the attacks and we have sustained lots of damage. Yet I stand here before you knowing that we can get through this together. We will not succumb to our fears and grieve but we will strive to once again rise up from the ashes like a phoenix. We will show the world that Konoha isn't some weak village and to do that we will work together like we always have in the past. Together we can overcome anything that comes our way, together we will show them what it means to be from Konoha." Sandaime shouted to the crow and slowly but surely the crowd answered with cries of agreement.

"I have more news, news that will rock Konoha's very foundations and for that I ask that you be patient for a little longer. For almost 14 years I have kept a promise to keep a secret, this promise was made to our beloved Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato. The time to reveal the contents of that promise had come." The Sandaime said into the microphone so that everyone could hear what he was about to reveal. The people gathered were already talking amongst themselves wondering what the secret from the Yondaime could be. "Many of you know how Minato was married but not a lot of people knew who he was married to and that his wife was pregnant of his child. The night of his death Yondaime asked me to keep this information secret until his child was old enough to protect himself and those he loves." Sandaime paused for a few seconds.

"Minato feared that if the knowledge of him having a child would become know then his child's life would be in grave danger from his former enemies and I believe he was correct. The child of Konoha's Yellow Flash would be a prime target for assassination thus I kept quiet. I watched Minato's child grow up from a distance and saw that just as his dad before him became a remarkable shinobi of the Leaf, willing to risk his life to protect the village and its inhabitants something he proved during the attack on our village just a few days ago. People of Konoha, I would like to introduce to you all, the son of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, please step forward Namikaze Naruto formerly known as Uzumaki Naruto." Sandaime spoke loudly.

Naruto stepped out of the shadow dressed in his usual outfit but with his Chuunin vest on and faced the crowd. He bowed to the Sandaime and then to the people in front of them. The crowd was shocked into silence, nobody could utter a word at the revelations. They could hardly believe that the one many people saw as the Kyuubi brat was none other than the Yondaime's son, this had to be a joke or something. People started whispering and talking to those standing next to them and soon the whole place was ready to turn into chaos. Naruto looked at Anko and Sandaime and they gave him an encouraging smile telling him to proceed.

"People of Konoha, please listen to me!" Naruto said into the microphone and as one the crowd fell back into silence. "I'm sure this must be a shock to many of you but please hear me out. I know many of you are surprised to hear that someone like me is the son of one of the greatest heroes of our village. For years I saw the Yondaime as my greatest hero myself, he was the man I wanted to become, he was my goal and still is my goal. To me he was everything I wanted to be so you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that he was my father." He ended softly. "My father loved this village and everyone living in it and for this village he was willing to sacrifice his life. On the night the Kyuubi attacked he didn't hesitate to protect this village and in the end he succeeded in saving us all but so many lives had already been lost. I realize I'm a reminder of what happened that night and for that I'm truly sorry. But my father entrusted me with a mission, a mission to protect this village just like he did and I intent to honor his wish." He continued while grabbing a kunai form his holster. The people were listening to him with attention and saw him take out the kunai. Naruto placed the edge of the kunai in the palm of his right hand and made a deep cut making blood fall on the ground.

"Like my father before me, I swear on my blood and the pain in my hand that I will protect this village until my dying breath. I will fight all of Konoha's enemies and those foolish enough to try and hurt us. This is my promise to you all and those who know me know that I never break a promise, ever." Naruto said before bowing deeply to the crowd. The stunned crowd was silent for a few seconds before several people started clapping in their hands and cheering for him. Slowly more and more people joined the clapping and cheering filling the area with excitement. Sandaime was looking at the crowd with pride in his eyes, never had he been so proud of his village and it showed. Though many people would still need convincing he believed Naruto had made a big step in gaining the acknowledgement from the villagers.

After that people started to go home still shocked from the revelations they heard leaving only Naruto and his closest friends and surrogate family. Those who already knew Naruto's secret were happy that things had gone so well but they also knew that many people were too shocked to fully understand what just happened. The next few days would really show in what degree Naruto would be accepted by the village. The others who didn't know anything about this were shocked but now that they thought about it they had to admit that the resemblance between father and son was obvious and they were slightly embarrassed that they didn't make the connection by themselves. They didn't ask too many question knowing that this had been an emotional evening for Naruto so they just said they're goodbye's for the night and promised to meet up the next to help out with the repairs of the village.

The next week went fast for the group, each of them was assigned a task that would help rebuild the village, academy students were ordered to help clean the debris from the destroyed buildings and genin were asked to help rebuild the outer wall that protected the village. Chuunin and Jounin were asked to take care of the remaining missions since they couldn't show any weakness and thus had to keep on taking the requests of their clients. Naruto however was asked to help in the village since Jiraiya could return any day with information about Tsunade and her whereabouts. Naruto seemed to enjoy helping out and with the large amount of Kage Bunshins that he was able to make he was a one man's army. He and his clones took care of the buildings that were only partially damaged and that could be repaired and by the end of the week most of the work was done to a great relief of the villagers.

Speaking of the villagers, a lot of them had started to accept Naruto and some even apologized for how they treated him when he was younger. Naruto smiled and said that the past is in the past and that they only had to worry about the present and the future. Especially the younger generations, those who had born several years before and after him were seeing Naruto as a hero for saving the Sandaime and helping in the fights. The older people however were still wary and mostly set in their way of thinking but that was something he could deal with. His friends were already over the shock and treated him no different than before, to them he was still Naruto and being the son of the Yondaime wouldn't change that which Naruto was grateful for. They had asked some questions but that was the end of that and they spend a lot of time together after their mission for the day was done.

Naruto was sitting on the top of the Hokage monument looking at the village and thinking how much his life had changed over the past year. After years of struggling he finally made progress on his way to being Hokage, he had made Chuunin and to him it seemed surreal but he knew he had worked hard for it and that he deserved it. He wondered what would happen now and how things would play out for him and his friends. He sensed a familiar person approaching him and turned around.

"Hey gaki, your girlfriend told me I could find you here." Jiraiya said while sitting down next to him.

"Yeah, I like to come here and think about everything that's going on in my life. Ever since I was a little kid this place seemed to be my safe haven. Weird huh?" Naruto said with a smile.

"Not really, everybody needs a place where they can relax. Mine is a hotspring where I can do research." Jiraiya said with a perverted grin on his face. "that reminds me, why didn't you tell me you had such a sexy girlfriend? Care to share some details?" he continued pulling out a notebook.

"You answered your own question Ero-sennin. I better not hear that you used Anko-chan and me as inspiration or else…." Naruto warned him.

"Pfff gaki, you're several decades too young to be any threat to the great Jiraiya-sama." He snorted.

"That may be so, but I'm sure Tsunade would be glad to punish you in my stead. I do remember her having a super strong punch." Naruto said with a grin making Jiraiya pale at the thought of being punched by one of Tsunade's fists.

"Fine, you win." Jiraiya sighed. "Anyway, I need to talk to you, Anko and the old man. It's urgent so go get her and meet me at the tower."

Naruto nodded and used 'Shunshin no jutsu' to get home faster. Once there he grabbed Anko telling her that they were needed at the Hokage's office right away. She nodded and they started making their way over to the tower. They immediately went to the office and knocked before entering.

"Ah, good you're here please sit down." Sandaime said looking very serious. "Alright Jiraiya what's going on?"

"First I'll like to say that I have a lead on Tsunade so we'll leave tomorrow before she gets away again." Jiraiya said while leaning against the wall.

"Very well, Naruto you heard the man. Be ready by 5 AM and meet us at the North Gate." Sandaime ordered Naruto who simply nodded. "What's next?"

"Right, and this is the bad part. As you know my spy network is one of the best in the world, and for years I have been gathering information on Orochimaru and his whereabouts. Several years ago I heard that he joined an organization called 'Akatsuki' and for quite some time I didn't know what their purpose was. No matter what I tried information on them was almost non-existent and their actions were sparse." Jiraiya told them.

"But about a year ago I heard an interesting story about them and I started researching them for up close and what I found was anything but good. It seems that Akatsuki's members are some of the most dangerous nukenin in the bingo book. It's safe to say that each and every one of them is classified as a S-rank shinobi and I have an idea of some of their identities. What I sure of is that Uchiha Itachi is one of them so we can assume that they'll all be around his level." Jiraiya said shocking them all.

"Are you sure? That's most disturbing indeed. Do you have any idea what their goal is?" Sandaime said, his pipe long forgotten.

"I did hear something and that's why Naruto should hear this. I discovered that they are trying to gather the nine Bijuu, for what I don't know but they will be hunting down the Bijuu and the Jinchuuriki pretty soon. Until now they have been gathering information, money and manpower but it seems that this stage of their plan is reaching an end." Jiraiya finished before walking to the window and sitting down next to it.

"So there after the Kyuubi? But how would they get it, I mean dad sealed it and you told me that it can never get free right?" Naruto asked a little shaken by what he just heard.

"While it's true that Minato's seal is very strong I believe that they have a way to extract the Bijuu from the Jinchuuriki otherwise they wouldn't start such an organization." Jiraiya said.

"What would happen to Naruto if the Kyuubi is extracted from him?" Anko asked concerned.

"Honestly? I have no idea but I think it's best to assume that Naruto wouldn't survive the process." He answered softly, he didn't want to scare them but he thought it was best that they knew what was going on. Keeping secrets from Naruto would only result in tragedy, he needed to know about what was going to happen.

"Anko-chan, no need to panic yet. Thanks Ero-sennin for telling me all this, I guess there's only one option and that's to train and get stronger so I can defeat them." Naruto while holding Anko's hand so she would calm down a little.

"Glad to hear you say that gaki because I'm taking you as my apprentice from here on out. Anko here has done a great job in training you but if you want to become strong enough to face S-rank shinobi you'll need a lot more than she can teach you. No offence Anko." Jiraiya said giving her a little smile.

"None taken, you're right Naruto will need your guidance but I'll warn you right now if you turn Naruto into a pervert you will regret it. Do I make myself clear?" Anko said advancing on the Sannin with a kunai spinning in her hand. Jiraiya quickly nodded hoping she wouldn't use that kunai to cut off his most prized body part.

"Okay, calm down Anko. I'm sure Naruto will be fine." Sandaime chuckled at the scene.

A few hours later they had come up with a temporary plan to start Naruto's training and how they would proceed to deal with the Akatsuki. They would take care of a more detailed plan when Naruto and Jiraiya returned from searching Tsunade and hopefully return with her ready to become the Godaime Hokage. Naruto and Anko went home since Naruto had to leave in a few hours and they wanted to spend a little time together before he left.

"So Jiraiya, what do think about Naruto?" Sandaime asked his former student.

"The kid is strong, that's for sure but he'll need a lot more training if he wants to have a chance against Akatsuki." Jiraiya said.

"That's why we're here isn't it? To teach him and help him get stronger." Sandaime said while taking his pipe in his hand.

Jiraiya nodded and said his goodbye as well telling his teacher that he would see him at the gate the next morning. Sandaime nodded and walked over to the window where he could see the faces of the previous Hokage's carved into the mountain. He looked over at the Yondaime's head and couldn't help but feeling sad, he always thought that Naruto should have had his dad at his side to guide him trough life but seeing as that was impossible he would gladly take on that duty.

'Minato, you and Kushina would have been so proud of Naruto. No matter what I promise to both of you that I will do my very best to ensure his safety. There is no doubt in my mind that he will become the greatest Hokage of all times and I'll make sure he gets there.' Sandaime thought before he turned around and walked to the door hoping to get some sleep as well.

* * *

Not much action in this chapter but a lot of emotions right? I hope everybody's happy with how I rewarded Naruto and the rest. The funeral and the declaration of Naruto's parentage was hard to write , I wanted it to feel a little natural and I hope I succeeded in that. The next chapter will be the start of the search for Tsunade so things are going to change fairly quickly now, until now I stayed pretty much loyal to canon for the main events but I hope to come up with some original storylines myself.

The next chapter will be released on Sunday 15th of June: Chapter 22: And the search is on!'

See you guys then.


	22. Chapter 22: And the search is on!

I don't own Naruto.

Hey everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of this story. I hope everyone is doing fine and in good health.

**I'm in need of your help. Like I said last week I'm thinking of trying to come up with new original ideas for things to happen in this story. Unfortunately with my exams and all I don't have much time to brainstorm and this chapter is the last chapter that I have written in advance. When Tsunade becomes the Godaime Hokage I will consider this the end of the first part of the story. If possible I would to spend at least a few chapters of original content before I continue with the Sasuke retrieval act. So I would like to know if any of you have a idea or a thing that you would like to see in the story. Doesn't matter how small or big your idea is just let me know and I'll see what I can use. I will off course give credit where credit is due so don't worry about that. **

On a side note: how do you guys think Naruto will react now that he's heard about Jiraiya's death in the original manga? I wonder how much Tsunade and the Toad sage are going to reveal? And what's up with the toad who holds the key to Naruto's seal?

Anyway thanks to all people who reviewed last week and thanks in advance to everyone who helps me out. Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 22: And the search is on!

The next morning Naruto woke up with mixed feelings, one the one hand he felt very excited to leave on this trip training with a legendary Sannin while looking for another Sannin but on the other hand he had to leave the village just when he had finally earned some recognition. Add the fact that there still was a lot of work to be done to repair the damage in the village Naruto felt like he was almost betraying the village by leaving. When he voiced his thoughts to Anko she smiled and said that he wasn't doing anything of the sort on the contrary he was ensuring the welfare of the village by finding Tsunade. Naruto couldn't really deny the fact that he was getting the next Hokage back to the village so he accepted the fact that he would be leaving the village for some time.

After eating breakfast Naruto got ready for departure which would be in an hour. He grabbed his sword, his holster and pouch and put them on. He then grabbed the belt he had made before the Chuunin exams and sealed some extra stuff like his research on the Hiraishin no Jutsu and some reading material. Though he wasn't sure if he would have time for that seeing he most probably would already be learning stuff van Jiraiya. After putting his Chuunin vest on, he exited the bedroom and went to get Anko so they could leave together. Anko watched with pride at Naruto as he wore the vest he earned, she was so proud of him and his accomplishments and even she had gotten some friendly smiles and nods from the townspeople. Being the one who taught Naruto had earned her lots of respect especially amongst the Jounin sensei's. The best was when she saw some of Naruto's old academy teachers faces when they heard that he had saved the Hokage and him being the son of the Yondaime, she would forever remember the look on their faces. Revenge is sweet and all that.

They both walked in silence towards the gate, each of them lost in their own thoughts, enjoying the comfortable silence while holding hands. They had no reason to hide their relationship anymore so they weren't concerned about it. When the gate came into view they saw that most of the genin and the sensei's had gathered there with Jiraiya and the Sandaime.

"Hey everyone, what are you all doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Do you think you would get to leave without saying goodbye? That's not going to happen you know." Kiba said before clapping Naruto on the back.

"It's not like I'll be gone for months guys, I'll be back before you know it." Naruto said chuckling. On the inside however he was very touched that his friends came to say goodbye and wish him luck.

"Alright gaki, let's get going shall we? I want to be in the next town by this afternoon."

"Right behind you Ero-sennin. See you guys later okay? Take care of things here for me."

He turned to Anko and gave her a long kiss goodbye and raced out after Jiraiya who was waiting for him a little further. Anko smiled and yelled out that he better come back safely or that she would have to hurt him. She looked at how he disappeared into the forest and she turned to Kurenai who was smiling at her. The rest of the genin were talking amongst them saying that they would have to get stronger if they wanted to keep up with Naruto.

"Keep up with Naruto? Good luck with that." Kiba said laughing. "Every time I think that I have caught up with him he proves me wrong. But one day I'll defeat him in a fair fight, that has been my goal ever since he defeat Momochi Zabuza in the Wave."

"Naruto is lucky to have such good friends at his side. I'm sure that each and every one of you will become very strong, your sensei's will make sure of that. Keep working hard and there isn't a thing you can't do." Sandaime said while looking at the group of friends.

The Sandaime told them that today they would work on the repairs on the south side of the village where a huge snake had dealt severe damage to inner walls. Those walls were very important to the defenses of the village so they had to be repaired as soon as possible. The genin nodded and dismissed themselves before getting to work.

"The five of you follow me." The Sandaime said to the Jounin sensei's. "we have much to discuss today." He said before walking to the Hokage's tower making them (except Anko) wonder what was going on. The rest of the morning was spend with Sandaime explaining about Akatsuki and how they would have to deal with them.

Naruto and Jiraiya had been walking in silence for about an hour before Naruto broke the silence when he asked Jiraiya where they were headed to. Jiraiya had only told him to meet this morning but nothing more, he also wondered what he would be learning from the perverted Sannin. He knew the man was strong, you didn't become a Sannin without being strong but he also knew how easy the man was distracted if he saw a beautiful girl or how much time he spend 'researching' for his next installment of 'Icha Icha Paradise'.

"That's just the thing Gaki. I don't know exactly where Tsunade is but she was last seen in a town a few days from here so that's where we're going." Jiraiya said while looking at Naruto.

"So this is a wild goose chase of some sort?"

"Gaki, you better pray that Tsunade doesn't hear that or she'll punch your lights out." He said laughing loudly. "Don't worry, we have time and while we're travelling we'll work on some training for you."

"Really, what kind of training? New Ninjutsu or maybe some new Taijutsu?"

"Easy there, yeesh you're just like your dad. Always wanting to know new Jutsu or learn new things." Jiraiya said a little sad remembering his prized pupil. "But I guess I can teach you some of my Jutsu but first I would like to know what skill you already have."

So for the next few hours Naruto and Jiraiya discussed Naruto's skill level and what he needed to work on and improve. Jiraiya would also teach him some more about seals seeing that Naruto already had a healthy interest in that particular field of study. He even offered help with figuring out the 'Hiraishin no Jutsu' but Naruto declined saying that he wanted to master this jutsu on his own and Jiraiya accepted that but told him that in case he had questions he could always help him out.

"Alright Gaki, there's a small town up ahead that's where we will spend the rest of the afternoon so we can have a little spar and we'll spend the night there as well."

"Spar? Great, I can't wait to see you fight. Ji-chan said that you and Orochimaru were about the same level."

"Orochimaru and I have always been rivals ever since our Genin days but he was a genius while I had to work hard to master any technique. But he was obsessed by jutsu and always wanted more and more. When he betrayed the village I couldn't stop him because I still considered him my friend and rival." Jiraiya explained a little about the relationship between the two of them.

"What about Tsunade-sama?"

"Tsunade? We'll she was always interested in becoming a medical nin but that doesn't mean she can't fight. I'm sure you heard about her super strength?" Jiraiya asked making Naruto nod. Everybody knew about that. She was legendary because of it. "she kicked my ass more than once but we got along fairly well."

"Except about the 'research' thing right?"

"Oh yeah, she hates that part of me. So how about you? Do you have a rival amongst your friends?"

"Well, before I trained with Anko I considered Sasuke my biggest rival. He's considered a genius while I was the dead last and with the Sharingan he's a very strong opponent and he always got respected by the village just because he was an Uchiha so for a while he was my rival." Naruto said before pausing a little. "But while training with Anko I realized that Sasuke isn't the sort of rival I want, sure he's strong I'll be the first to admit it but his goal of revenge and his need for power is something that I cannot comprehend. While I understand the feelings he has for his brother and if I had been in Sasuke's place I would want revenge too but not in the same way."

"Oh? How would you do it then?"

"I would also train to get stronger that's for sure but I wouldn't focus on killing him. I would focus on surpassing him and if I ever encountered him again then and only then would I fight him. Sakura told me that Sasuke wants to revive the Uchiha clan but every time a girl approaches him he tells them to get lost. Every time someone wants to get to know him and be his friends he just sneers at them and leaves." Naruto said while thinking.

"While I understand what you're saying Naruto I also understand Sasuke a little. He's focused on killing his brother so much that he doesn't wants to be distracted by anything. Is it a wrong way of doing things? Maybe but that's for him to decide." Jiraiya said.

"But that's just it. If he would open up a little and lose that air of arrogance he gained from being pampered by the village he would have friends who would help him get stronger or maybe even help him defeat Itachi. But he just wants everything thrown in his lap because he's an Uchiha, he considers the rest of us inferior and weak." Naruto said slightly angry at how Sasuke used to treat him and the others in the academy.

"Naruto, you can't make everybody your friend. It's great that you want to but that's just impossible, I'm sorry to tell you that I see a lot of resemblance between Sasuke and Orochimaru and I hope he doesn't follow in Orochimaru's footsteps."

"We can only hope but I want to believe that Sasuke won't be that stupid."

After that they didn't talk until they reached the village each thinking about the previous discussion. After securing a hotel room for the night Jiraiya and Naruto took for the woods just outside the village to have a spar.

While Jiraiya was handing Naruto's ass to him the Sandaime Hokage was in his office with the rest of the Jounin sensei to discuss the coming threat known as Akatsuki. They would have to be ready to deal with such an organization which would prove to be very difficult seeing that every member were reputed to be S-class shinobi in the Bingo book.

"Alright, Jiraiya alerted me of a danger that all of you should be aware off." Sandaime said before he started to explain about Akatsuki and who they were after. The explanation took about half an hour and to say that the Jounin sensei's were worried was an understatement. Not many of them would be able to defeat a S-class shinobi without help and the fact that Uchiha Itachi was part of them worried them even more. Itachi was a genius shinobi virtually undefeatable during his time in Konoha, who knows how strong he has become.

"I see that this news troubles most of you and with good reasons. Akatsuki is a threat not only to Konoha but to the whole shinobi world and that's why we must prepare ourselves." Sandaime said while resting his chin on his hands. "I will now issue your orders so listen carefully. Any information about Akatsuki is now a S-class secret so keep that in mind. You're to train you students to become as strong as possible so that they can help fight."

"Hokage-sama, forgive me my interruption but do you believe that our students can become strong enough to fight a S-class shinobi and come out alive?" Asuma said.

"Asuma, there's no doubt in my mind that your genins will become some of the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever produced. You all did a marvelous job so far, just keep on doing what you did and then some more."

"YOSH, THE YOUTHFULLNESS OF OUR GENIN WILL BURN BRIGHTLY THANKS TO OUR HELP" Gai exclaimed making the others wince from the sheer volume of his voice.

"Yes, that too Gai. The new generation is strong, they proved that during the attacks and with Naruto's help they will become strong." Sandaime said while glaring at Gai.

"You sure believe a lot in Naruto, don't you Hokage-sama?" Kakashi said not even looking up from his orange book.

"Naruto is the one who will become the greatest Hokage of all times Kakashi, I can see it when I look at him. Like his father before him he will become the pillar that supports and protects this village." Sandaime said while looking at the mountain which held the faces of the previous Hokage's.

"How did the village react to the revelation about Naruto's parents?" Kurenai asked Anko.

"Pretty good I suppose. There are still a lot of people who see him as the Kyuubi but he also gained a lot of respect for his actions during and after the attack. He still has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants the whole village to see him as Naruto but he's getting there." Anko said proudly.

The Jounin nodded, they had seen just how much Naruto and his clones had worked during the week after the attack. He had taken care of most of the small work, helping repairing the homes of the villagers that had been damaged. He certainly helped the repairs ahead of schedule thanks to his clones freeing others so that they could help on more urgent repairs.

"Okay, let's get back on track here. Like I said, I want each one of you to train your genins beyond their limits. If they ask why they need such training tell them that they'll be part of a special group to protect Konoha. Dismissed." Sandaime said before everyone left his office. He sighed visible exhausted from all the hard work he had been doing the past weeks. He really hoped Naruto would be able to convince Tsunade into becoming Hokage.

The Jounin sensei's just left the Hokage tower and each went their own way thinking about how they would train their students to deal with such a threat. This would take lots of energy from both sides and they would have to come up with a whole new training schedule as well. Anko and Kurenai however were happily talking about their students and already discussing what kind of training they would give them.

"Alright, when Naruto's back I'll ask him if he can put the gravity seal on Kiba, Shino and Hinata. That will allow them to get stronger and faster on top of their normal training." Anko was musing out loud.

"Wait, what gravity seal? I know nothing about Naruto wearing such a seal?" Kurenai asked shocked.

"Oh that's right. Well you see, in the Yondaime's book there's a seal that changes the gravity on your body. Naruto put it on during his training but I told him that he only could release it when it's a matter of life and death." She said grinning. 'Oops totally forgot about that one, wonder if Naruto remembers that he put on that particular seal?'

Kurenai stared at Anko and wondered just how strong Naruto would be without it. That boy was full of surprises but she knew that already she thought. It was decided that they would start the new training regime as soon as possible, of course they would have to wait until the genin were finished with their mission to help rebuild the village. That would take about another week so now was to time to come up with a schedule. Anko was already smiling while thinking about all the different ways she could come up with to help them train. This would be so much fun she thought.

In the meanwhile Naruto was getting his butt kicked by Jiraiya during their spar, it became painfully obvious how lucky he had been to be alive after fighting Orochimaru. Had he not been so tired and out of chakra by the time he started the fight he would be dead now. The difference between a Chuunin and a Sannin was unbelievable and he became aware that he still had much to learn if he wanted to survive a fight between himself and a member of Akatsuki.

"That's enough for today Gaki. You did well but you still need more experience and training." Jiraiya said honestly impressed with Naruto.

"Man, I couldn't even hit you once!"

"Naruto, believe me when I say that you did well. Much better than expected actually." Jiraiya said placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"But…"

"But nothing Naruto. You can't expect to become Sannin level in such a short time. Don't worry you'll get there eventually." Jiraiya said guiding him back to the hotel for a good night rest.

Naruto cursed himself for thinking the way he did right now, he wasn't supposed to be disappointed but he couldn't help himself. After fighting Orochimaru he thought he was strong enough to at least hit Jiraiya once but he had been proven wrong. For the first time he truly saw the difference between himself and someone of Sannin level and to be honest it frightened him a little, he even started to doubt himself wondering if he would ever reach that kind of level. He knew he would have to train harder if he wanted to have a chance against Akatsuki and somewhere along the line he started to get impatient to get stronger. He should have realized that strength and power didn't come easy and that it took time, instead of getting impatient he would have to continue training just like he always did and believe in himself. He stood up a little straighter and followed Jiraiya with new found courage and enthusiasm.

For the next few days Naruto and Jiraiya travelled from village to village and while Jiraiya was gathering information about Tsunade and her whereabouts Naruto kept on training and studying. Jiraiya had made a Kage Bunshin and ordered Naruto to fight it however each day Naruto would get a handicap like being forbidden to use his sword or using Ninjutsu. The purpose of this training was that Naruto needed to get used to fighting at a disadvantage against stronger opponents. Naruto however loved the challenge and threw himself into this new training while his clones were working on something else like chakra control exercises or studying new seals that Jiraiya gave him. He had been pleasantly surprised with Ero-sennin's training, at first he feared that the pervert would neglect his training to do research but it seemed that Jiraiya had taken a liking to him and was serious about training him.

"Oi, Gaki that's enough for today!" Naruto heard Jiraiya yell, unfortunately this caused him to be distracted and he ended up getting hit by the clones punch. "That'll teach you not to get distracted." Jiraiya laughed.

"Very funny Ero-sennin, glad to see that my pain is making you laugh." Naruto said rubbing his hurting jaw.

"Whatever Gaki, I have good news!"

"You found Tsunade?"

"Nope, but somebody said he saw her in a town a few days from here so that's where we'll go." Jiraiya said calmly. "We'll leave in the morning."

"Why not leave right now?"

"Because I don't want to travel at night and because there's a festival tonight and I want to go." Jiraiya said folding his arm in front of his chest.

"What? What's so special about the festival?"

"Gaki, think for a moment will you? A festival is a great opportunity for research." Jiraiya said with a lecherous grin on his face. "Al those beauty's in kimono's having fun and drinking. A chance in a lifetime."

"I can't believe you Ero-sennin, you want to go to the festival just to meet girls?"

"Shut up Gaki, just because you're too stupid to enjoy the miracle that is a woman doesn't mean I am." Jiraiya yelled at Naruto.

"Oh yeah, maybe you didn't notice but one of the hottest kunoichi of Konoha is my girlfriend, you stupid lecher." Naruto fired back.

"Don't remind me, I'll never understand how someone like you can get such a looker to be your girlfriend."

"Ha, it's because unlike you I'm not a pervert." Naruto said smirking.

After arguing for another half hour both of them left the training area and went to the hotel they were currently staying. Naruto wouldn't admit it to the man's face but the idea of going to a festival wasn't so bad at all. He liked going to festivals in Konoha but rarely got the chance until after he met up with Anko and Team 8. After a quick shower he changed into a simple outfit consisting of a dark blue pants and a dark red shirt, he also strapped on his holster and his sword cause it wouldn't do to be caught off guard while enjoying the festival. Jiraiya had already left shouting that if he didn't leave now he would miss out on some beautiful girls.

When Naruto reached the festival grounds he quickly started exploring the place. He passed several small wooden stands who sold candy or other food which make him drool at smelling all those delicious things. Realizing he didn't have lunch yet he bought some okonomiyaki before sitting down enjoying the atmosphere. The grounds were filled with people who laughed while drinking and eating or people who tried out the different games. A lot of children were running around having fun and playing making Naruto smile sadly when he remembered his own childhood. Unlike these kids Naruto wasn't allowed to play with the other children by most parents so he had to play by himself. Shaking his head clear of those memories he looked at the children playing with their siblings and parents hoping that one day he would have his own child to spoil and play with.

After finishing his lunch he continued his exploration of the festival and come upon a small stand which sold jewelry for women. Thinking about Anko maybe he could buy her something, he knew she wasn't the type of girl who like earrings so he skipped those but he didn't find anything that would fit with Anko. She wasn't very interested in jewelry to begin with so he would have to find something else to buy her. Walking around the corner he came onto the children's part of the festival where lots of games could be played and where you could win prizes. Naruto, who never got the chance when he was younger decided to look around a bit and maybe even try out some of the games. He didn't care that he was older than most kids here, he just wanted to feel like a regular kid for once. After five minutes of browsing through the stands he heard a young girl cry and saw her sitting on one of the stone stairs next to a stand.

"Hey there, what's wrong?" Naruto asked gently.

"I wanted sniff to win sniff a teddy sniff I wasn't good enough." The young girl cried out. Naruto's heart almost broke at seeing the young girl cry, she was just so cute wearing a kimono and a flower in her hair.

"Oh don't cry, I'm Naruto what's your name?"

"My name is Akiko." The girl said while wiping the tears of her cheeks.

"Well Akiko-chan, would you like it if I won a teddy for you?" He said smiling at Akiko making the girl nod her head with a huge smile on her face.

Naruto took her to a stand where you had to throw some darts at the target. The more points you got the bigger the prize you could win. Off course for a shinobi these kind of games were just too easy and normally he wouldn't rip off the owner of the stand like that but the thought of the girl crying just made him do it. He was careful not to be too good at throwing the darts so that the owner didn't get suspicious of him.

"Congratulations young man, you won 78 points so you get to choose out of all these prizes." The man said while showing which prizes he could choose. Off course Naruto let his new friend choose and she choose the biggest and cutest teddy of them all. It was a giant fluffy dog easily bigger than herself which made Naruto chuckle at the sight. She hugged the teddy tightly before thanking Naruto for the great present.

"You're welcome Akiko-chan, now why don't you go show you mommy and daddy your new teddy."

"Okay, bye Naruto-nichan."

After roaming around a bit more Naruto made his way back to the hotel wondering how Ero-sennin had spend his evening even though he already had a good idea. It probably involved some 'research' like he liked to call it, Naruto shook his head amazed at how Jiraiya sometimes acted. No wonder the man didn't have a girlfriend or a wife, he liked spying on young women too much to settle down. He recalled how much the man spied on the girls having fun in the river while Naruto practiced the 'Kuchiyose No Jutsu'. He also smiled at the memory of Jiraiya getting his ass kicked by the women on which he spied on when they first met, that memory always made him smile. Entering the room he saw that Jiraiya was nowhere in sight so he took a relaxing shower and went to bed knowing that tomorrow they would leave for the next town.

The next morning Naruto woke up before dawn and saw that Jiraiya had made it back during the night so he slowly sneaked towards the unsuspecting Jiraiya. He didn't have to sneak since Jiraiya was out like a light reeking of alcohol making Naruto pinch his nose. After filling a bucket with ice cold water he stood next to the Sannin and quickly did some handseals before whispering 'Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu' and splashed Jiraiya. Off course Naruto had powered down the jutsu enough to only a very small dragon but it was enough to wake up Jiraiya who spluttered and yelled thinking he was drowning. Seeing the man's reaction Naruto couldn't help himself and started laughing his head off. It had been too long since he played a prank and who better to prank than the old pervert?

"Urgh, what's going on?" Jiraiya stammered after realizing he wasn't drowning.

"Wake up Ero-sennin, it's time to leave." Naruto said after he got his laughing under control.

"Think this is funny Gaki? I swear kids have no respect for their elders these days." Jiraiya yelled making him hold his head in pain from the hangover.

"Don't blame me, you needed a shower anyway." Naruto said innocently. "You smelled like you bathed in alcohol."

"You're just jealous that I hooked up with several young women last night." Jiraiya pouted.

"Yeah right!" Naruto snorted. "And how much money did you lose on them?"

Jiraiya was about to answer when he realized that he did spend a lot of money last night so he wisely kept quiet not wanting to give Naruto the satisfaction of being right. Again. He grumbled something about being misunderstood and disrespect for elders before he got up and got ready to leave. After paying for their stay they left for the town where Tsunade had been sighted, they would run to the town not wanting to waste time.

In Konoha only a handful people were already up and running even if the sun had yet to fully rise. On training ground 17 Kiba, Hinata and Shino were busy running their daily laps before the training truly started. The three of them had been informed by Anko and Kurenai that their training would be pushed to a whole new level and that they better be able to keep up otherwise there would be dire consequences for all of them. When the genin asked why their training was intensified Kurenai told them that they were now part of a group that would have to protect Konoha form future threats. That of course raised more questions but Kurenai told them that they would be informed when Naruto was back from his mission. The genin were training in speed and strength training and each had to continue developing their own skills. After the warming up exercises they had to spar against each other and their sensei's before they were allowed to work on their own while Anko and Kurenai provided assistance and help. In the afternoon they could either train with their friends or family to learn new techniques.

Team 10 was doing much of the same training but they were also trained by their parents so that they could learn more of the advanced techniques of their clan. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji had been told that they were now strong enough to learn some of them and they were eager to start training. Even Ino had surprised them by fully dedicating herself into improving herself, she and Sakura had been training with Hinata for over a month now and the changes were visible even if they still had a lot of catching up to do. Speaking of Sakura, she had practically begged Kakashi to help her get stronger and even promised him to stop fussing over Sasuke all the time. Seeing that Sakura was serious Kakashi had spend several days with her coming up with a training schedule she could follow and to his surprise Sakura followed it to the smallest detail.

Kakashi had been a bit disappointed when the third member of his team had quit being a shinobi after the Chuunin exams. The boy had never been fit to become a shinobi and Kakashi was somewhat glad that he realized it before he got himself killed. Last he heard the boy was now going to a regular school trying to catch up with his fellow students. This left him with an incomplete team made up from Sakura, Sasuke and himself making them unable to do missions outside of the normal D-rank missions and team training. Sasuke had complained loudly until the Hokage had put him in his place threatening to send him back to the academy if he didn't stop his childish behavior. Kakashi had been observing Sasuke for a while and didn't like what he was seeing, he always knew that Sasuke was driven by revenge but lately things had been getting out of hand. Sasuke all but demanded to be taught jutsu so he could get stronger and no matter what Kakashi said he didn't seem to understand that power was something that took time to gain by training. Kakashi had been trying to get Sasuke to work together with his team but nothing seemed to work, off course the fact that Sasuke had been much stronger than his teammates didn't help either but instead of helping them Sasuke just ignored them only widening the gap.

Today he would have another talk with the boy hoping that he could get the boy to understand what it meant to be a Konoha shinobi. Right now however he was on his way to meet with the other Jounin sensei so that they could discus some group training between the three teams. Asuma had said that all of them would benefit from learning to work together as one group and he had to agree with that line of thinking. Arriving at the small Dango shop he saw that the other were already there and make his way over to them. Passing a few tables he noticed a pair of travelers with hats and black cloaks with red clouds on it but he didn't make any sign of distress or recognition.

"Finally Kakashi I swear you would be late for your own funeral." Anko said slightly mad at the one eyed shinobi.

"Calm down Anko, you know there's no helping it. Let's just sit down and enjoy lunch." Asuma said showing that he too had seen the two suspicious men and he didn't want to talk about anything remotely connected to his students or training. They spend their lunch in good laughter while keeping an eye on the men but halfway through lunch Sasuke showed up wanting to talk to Kakashi.

"Here you are, I looked everywhere for you Kakashi-sensei." Sasuke said showing a least some respect, he knew better than to piss of any superior shinobi especially one who could teach him many techniques.

"Ah Sasuke, what's the matter?"

"I want to train with you, I need to get stronger." Making Kakashi sigh at his answer.

"Sasuke, I told you a dozen times before that you can't get stronger just by knowing more jutsu ." Kakashi said calmly but from the corner of his eye he saw the two men getting up and leave.

"So help me train instead of lecturing me like you always do." Sasuke said losing his temper. 'Don't these idiots realize that I need to get stronger so that I can kill THAT man?' he thought.

"Fine, meet me later on at the training field." Kakashi said before getting up. The other Jounin sensei got up as well knowing that Kakashi wanted to investigate those travelers.

Kakashi and the rest left in the direction the two men had left and quickly reached a relatively remote place in Konoha where not many people came. He looked in front of him and saw the two men standing there as if they we're waiting for him. The four of them slowly approached them not wanting to provoke them unnecessary.

"Hatake Kakashi, Mitarashi Anko, Yuuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma it has been a while hasn't it?" The smallest of the two said while taking of his hat revealing a handsome young man with black hair tied in a small ponytail.

"Uchiha Itachi, why are you here? Come to finish the job you started all those years ago?" Kakashi asked. "And who is your friend?"

"Finish the job? I have no interest in that foolish little brother of mine."

"As to who I am, my name is Hoshigake Kisame." The man next to Itachi said. When his face became visible they saw a shark like man with a blue face.

"If not for Sasuke then why are you here?" Asuma asked.

"We are here for the Yondaime's legacy. It's in our organization benefit that we retrieve him." Itachi said.

"You're after Naruto? I suppose that organization is called 'Akatsuki'?" Kakashi said shocking both Itachi and Kisame.

"I see you have been warned about us, I wonder how you gathered that kind of information." Itachi asked them not really expecting an answer.

"What's the purpose of your organization? Why are you after Naruto?" Anko asked, she had been quiet till now but she wanted to know why they were after her boyfriend. Suddenly a voice sounded through the clearing yelling out.

"ITACHI!!"

The group turned and saw an enraged Sasuke standing there staring at Itachi with clear hate in his eyes. Before anyone could stop him he charged at Itachi making handseals and produced a Chidori aiming straight at Itachi's heart.

"SASUKE DON'T! YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST AN OPPONENT LIKE HIM!" Kakashi yelled trying to stop his student from getting killed.

Sasuke didn't listen however and tried to stab Itachi through the heart but to his shock his brother just grabbed him by the wrist and twisted it making Sasuke fall to his knees, the Chidori slowly disappearing. Itachi looked at his brother before slowly shaking his head and twisted Sasuke's wrist further effectively breaking it making him scream out in pain. The Jounin sensei were about to help Sasuke but Kisame placed himself in between them and hindered them from helping Sasuke.

"My foolish little brother, do you know why you're still so weak? It's because you don't have enough hate. Maybe this will help you into getting stronger." Itachi said before locking eyes with Sasuke. Slowly his Sharingan changed into something different pattern and the moment Sasuke looked at it he started screaming and collapsed not a second later.

"Let's go Kisame, we didn't come here to fight."

The Jounin sensei rushed to Sasuke's side checking him over trying to wake him up but nothing they tried seemed to help. Aside from his broken wrist he seemed psychically fine but they guessed that Itachi's attack was a mental attack making it impossible for them to help him. They took him to the hospital before going to report to the Hokage knowing that he would be very interested in what happened.

So how was it? Hope you enjoyed it like the rest of the chapters.

The next chapter will be released on Sunday the 22th of June. 'Chapter 23: Making a bet with a Sannin.'


	23. Chapter 23: making a bet with a Sannin

I don't own Naruto.

Hey everybody, how's it going? For me thing are going great (I think). My exams are almost finished, only one more to go and then I'm free. FINALY. Man I truly hate exams lol. I just hope I passed them all otherwise I have to retake them in August and that would mean studying in the summer. The ultimate punishment. Oh well, come what may I'll just have to deal with it.

Thanks to the people who reviewed and who gave some suggestions or idea for the upcoming chapters in my story. I received some interesting ideas which are worth looking into but that's for later. Still if you have a idea let me know, it can be something small or big, doesn't matter who knows your idea may be a storyline for the story.

Anyway we're already at chapter 23, time goes by so fast when you're having fun. 23 weeks ago I posted the first chapter hoping that there would be people who would like it. Never had I imagined that the story would be loved like this. So thank you all once again and happy reading.

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Chapter 23: Making a bet with a Sannin

Two weeks had passed since Naruto left Konoha in search for Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin and frankly Naruto was getting tired of chasing after her. The woman just stayed long enough to gamble a bit and leave a small trail behind before she left again. The travailing wasn't so bad thanks to the many spars Naruto had with Jiraiya for which he was thankful. He still hadn't managed to land a hit on the man but he was lasting longer every time they fought. Naruto had even started to create a new technique but so far he was having trouble figuring out how to make it work. On top of that he was still working on the Hiraishin no Jutsu on his free time as well, he could feel he was getting close to figuring it out but it escaped him at the moment.

Jiraiya was having the time of his life seeing he was traveling again and got many opportunities to do research along the way. He giggled while writing down an idea on his notebook carefully hiding it from Naruto. The blonde had told him that if he didn't train him properly he would find said notebook and practice a Katon jutsu on it. Jiraiya had berated him for threatening to destroy what may become his greatest work yet but didn't take any chances just in case. He had started to teach some jutsu to Naruto to keep him busy and satisfied while still sparing with the blonde knowing that he would need the experience in the coming years.

They were currently on their way to the town where Tsunade was rumored to be although he started to doubt his information gathering skills a bit seeing they never seemed to arrive before she left again. Like Naruto he was getting tired of chasing her while he could be out there enjoying the many girls each village presented. He perked up when he saw the lights of the town in the distance and he ordered Naruto to pick up the pace a little. So not even ten minutes later they made their way through the town looking for a hotel. Not wanting to spent the evening in the hotel Jiraiya told Naruto that they would go out to get diner to which Naruto happily agreed.

After dismissing two restaurants because the waitresses weren't cute enough according to Jiraiya they finally came upon a small place that Jiraiya approved off after checking out the girls who worked there. Naruto didn't bother to say anything already used to the way the pervert selected their eating places, after all he had been doing the same thing for two weeks now. They were greeted by the owners of the place and went inside to choose a table. Naruto was looking around and thus he didn't see Jiraiya freeze in his tracks making him bump into the man's back.

"Why did you stop?"

"Tsunade! Finally, I've been looking all over the country for you." Jiraiya exclaimed loudly. Naruto just peeked from behind the man's back eager to see the Sannin they had been searching for.

"Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" Naruto heard the woman say. She was beautiful to say the least even if he thought that her breasts were way out of proportion. He understood why men thought she was one of the most beautiful women in the world seeing many man love big breasts. Next to her sat an equally beautiful young women with black hair holding a pig in her arms. Naruto stared at the pig wondering what kind of person kept a pig as a pet?

"Like I said, looking for you. Mind if we join you?" He said already sitting down.

"Guess not. Who's the kid?" Tsunade asked pointing at Naruto who was annoyed at being called a kid.

"This is my new apprentice, Namikaze Naruto." Jiraiya said before ordering a bottle of sake and some food. "Naruto, meet Tsunade one of the legendary Sannin and her apprentice Shizune."

"Nice to meet the two of you." Naruto said slightly bowing to both of them. He figured that it would be best if he showed some respect.

"Namikaze? Does that mean you're…." Tsunade asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Namikaze Minato was my dad." He nodded earning a gasp from Shizune. "I'm also the sacrifice." He continued knowing that both of them knew about the Kyuubi.

"I see, so why are you here?" Tsunade asked while drinking a bit of sake.

"Did you hear about the attack on Konoha?" Jiraiya asked receiving a nod from both women. "Did you also know that Orochimaru was behind it?"

"Yeah, I figured he was the one behind it but what does this have to do with me?" she asked.

"While sensei survived the battle thanks to Naruto's help, he has decided to step down as Hokage. He realized that it was time for a much needed change. And that's where you come in." Jiraiya said refilling his saucer with sake.

"He wants me to become Godaime Hokage doesn't he?" she said before grabbing the bottle of sake.

"Yes he does, so what do you say?" Jiraiya nodded.

"I refuse, being Hokage only gets you killed or worse. Being Hokage is shit, no way do I want that title." She answered making Naruto frown.

"Tsunade, you…." Jiraiya said trying to reason with her.

"Don't okay. Just don't. I lost two of my most precious people to that title. That job is cursed." She said glaring at Jiraiya.

"Ne, Ero-sennin this is the woman Sandaime-jichan appointed as his successor? Can't say I'm impressed so far." Naruto said while staring at Tsunade who turned to look at him. "No need to try and scare me with that look, I've faced worse than that."

"Listen kid, I don't know what your problem is but it's not my business okay."

"My problem is you insulting some of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen including my dad." Naruto snapped at her. "While I understand that Konoha reminds you of the people you lost it doesn't give you the right to insult the position of Hokage."

"You have no idea what you're talking about so you…."

"Oh spare me your dramatic story. I know exactly what I'm talking about, I know that you lost both your little brother and lover during the war and that both of them dreamed of becoming Hokage." Naruto said shocking her before she glared at Jiraiya who said he didn't tell anything about her past.

"How do you know about that, you brat?" She said grabbing Naruto by his shirt.

"Sandaime-Jichan used to tell me stories when I was a kid about Konoha's greatest heroes and while he changed names and dates I realized that he meant you when he ordered me to go with Ero-sennin." Naruto said while looking Tsunade in the eyes. He wouldn't show weakness to this woman. "I believed him when he told me that you were a fantastic kunoichi but I see he was wrong, you're nothing but a coward and a hypocrite."

"That's it, you and me outside right now. I'll show you why I'm considered the strongest kunoichi."

"Lead the way, Tsunade-Baachan." Naruto smirked inwardly smiling at seeing her reaction to him calling her old.

The party of four stepped outside and if Shizune didn't stop them they would have started fighting right in the middle of the street but fortunately she managed to persuade them to fight just outside the village. Jiraiya was trying to defuse the situation by talking to both of them but neither Naruto or Tsunade would back out and he muttered something about troublesome blonds making Naruto laugh remembering Shikamaru's catchphrase.

"Last chance to apologize brat."

"Not a chance, Baachan."

"Well Jiraiya I'm sorry to deprive you of yet another apprentice but this one deserves it." She said to Jiraiya.

"I'm not too worried, did I tell you he fought Orochimaru to a standstill?" Jiraiya said. 'Well technically that's not true but she doesn't need to know that.' He thought.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Tsunade said while looking at the Toad Sannin. "There's no way this kid could take on Orochimaru and live."

"Nevertheless it's true, Jichan and I fought him during the invasion. I also fought and defeated your ancestor, the Shodaime after Orochimaru used a Kinjutsu to bring him back to life. Off course he controlled him but I still fought him." Naruto informed her and Shizune. He knew he wasn't entirely truthful about the battle but that didn't matter right now.

Tsunade was shocked to hear that Orochimaru would go to such lengths to destroy Konoha and to kill Sarutobi-sensei. But then she remembered how he used to be and it didn't seem so surprisingly anymore. Still next time she saw him she would kick his ass for using her ancestor for such a purpose. Right now however she had a fellow blonde to punish.

"Whatever brat, let me show you what happens when people piss me off." Tsunade said turning back to her 'pissed-off' mode.

Naruto didn't answer but just made a few Kage Bunshin who ran straight at her. Tsunade off course wasn't so easily distracted and quickly dealt with the clones before she attacked herself. She threw a punch at Naruto who dodged it so she punched the ground instead making a large crack appear in the ground. Naruto knew immediately that if he got hit the fight would be over so he evaded and dodged several more punches and kicks from the blonde kunoichi.

"Who's the coward now brat. All you do is evading and dodging." She sneered at him. She realized that maybe she was exaggerating a bit in her rage towards the kid but she couldn't help it, he had pissed her off so now he would have to pay the consequences.

"It's called tactical retreat and who says I'm only defending."

Suddenly Tsunade felt someone grab her from behind and looked over her shoulder only to see a Kage Bunshin smiling back at her. Somehow knowing what Naruto was planning she tried to get rid of the clone before it exploded. The clone however had a firm hold on her and refused to let go and smirked before exploding. Jiraiya and Shizune were worried for a moment before they saw that the explosion was much smaller than usual so when they saw Tsunade standing there with only her clothes a bit burned and only taking minimal damage they relaxed.

"Impressive brat, I'll give you that but you'll need more than that to get rid of me." She smirked at Naruto.

"You're lucky I reduced the amount of chakra to a bare minimum so that the explosion wouldn't hurt you too badly." Naruto said before he saw Tsunade disappear in front of his eyes. She slammed her fist into his gut before hitting him in the face sending him across the clearing.

"Bet you didn't see that one coming did you brat? Why don't you sleep on it a little while! " she laughed loudly. She stopped laughing however when she saw Naruto getting up only rubbing his jaw but otherwise fine.

"Now I see what the pervert meant with freakish strength." Naruto said making Jiraiya wince as he knew this was going to cost him. "Fine, didn't want to use this but guess I don't have a choice now." Naruto just lowered his hand and a second later a perfect Rasengan appeared in his palm. Tsunade however was shocked that Naruto actually could perform an A-rank technique like the Rasengan. Sure he may have been Minato's son but this was ridiculous.

"Jiraiya, you taught him that move?"

"No, I didn't. he knew it already when we first met and not only that but he's close to figuring out the 'Hiraishin' as well." Causing an even bigger gasp from both women.

"You know Tsunade-Baachan, I don't understand you at all." Naruto said softly. "For someone who claims to love her little brother and boyfriend so much you sure don't hesitate to insult their dreams."

"What's that supposed to mean brat?"

"Their dream was to become Hokage, the strongest shinobi in the village and for that dream they were willing to risk everything. It didn't matter to them that they might not make it or get killed, their dream was that important to them." Naruto said while looking at her. "They sacrificed everything to make that dream come through and even though they didn't make it, there is no way that they regretted anything."

"Wanting to become Hokage is what got them killed." Tsunade said not wanting to discuss this with a brat she only just met.

"Bullshit! The war is what killed them, they died protecting Konoha and protecting the people they loved most of all." Naruto shouted. "Yet all you do is insult their memory and their dreams. They would be ashamed of you right now." Naruto said while running straight for her with the Rasengan in his hand.

Tsunade was distracted by Naruto's words and was almost too late to dodge the attack but once she got control of herself again she nailed him right in the gut before trying to kick him. Naruto felt the punch impact on his already queasy stomach and almost emptied it before he saw her leg move, quickly jumping aside he evaded what might have been the finishing blow. He shakily got to his feet and raised his head to face Tsunade again.

'Touched a nerve didn't I? ' Naruto thought smirking before continuing his rant. "What would they think of you now if they were alive? Instead of the woman they loved they would see a coward who takes the easy way out by blaming everything on the title of Hokage. Every time you insult Konoha and the Hokage name you insult them and their dreams and I will not stand for it. They wanted to be Hokage so they could protect those they loved the most, meaning you most of all."

Tsunade was getting more and more pissed at Naruto's words, not so much at Naruto but more at herself knowing that the blonde was saying things that made a lot of sense. For the first time in all these years she wondered if she hadn't been doing things the wrong way. Did she really blame them for trying to become Hokage? No, she was proud of her little brother and lover but grieve and loneliness consumed her after their deaths. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and cursed the Yondaime's son for being as annoying as his father was.

"They would have wanted you to realize their dream in their place instead of running away and they wouldn't want to you to be lonely and miserable. Stop running away from reality and live so that once you meet them again you can look them with your head held high." Naruto all but yelled. He could see the doubt in her eyes but he pressed on, just like Hinata all those months ago Tsunade needed to hear these words.

"S-shut up, it's n-not that easy." Tsunade said with tears running down her cheeks.

"Life is never easy but you're given the chance to make their dreams come true even if only a bit, so take it."

"Why are you so persistent to get me to change my mind about this?"

"Because like your brother, your lover and my dad before me my dream is to become Hokage." He said making Tsunade look at him with surprise showing in her eyes.

"So you want to become Hokage because your dad was the Hokage, is that why you learned his techniques? Are you trying to become your dad?" She wondered out loud.

"Not at all, I've been dreaming of become Hokage ever since Jichan told me about being a Hokage and that was long before I knew who my dad was. And about his techniques, I learned them because they're a link, a way to remember him by. I'm constantly making my own jutsu and as a matter of fact I'm creating one right now that could become just as strong as the Rasengan. It's far from complete but one day it will be." Naruto said honestly.

"A technique that rivals the Rasengan? At your age? I find that hard to believe." Tsunade said secretly impressed.

"Tsunade, Naruto already has created several techniques so I wouldn't be surprised if he succeeds in his endeavor."

"Fine then, how about a bet?" Tsunade said to Naruto.

"What kind of bet?"

"You show me that move in two weeks, if I'm impressed I'll give you this necklace." Tsunade said. "And seeing by your reaction you know how valuable it is."

"And if I lose?"

"Then you'll give up your dream to become Hokage."

"Don't you think that's a little unfair to ask me to give up everything?"

"Aren't you confident in your own skills?"

"No, just checking but you're on. You might as well give me that necklace now because I'm going to win this bet." Naruto said while punching the air.

After that Naruto left for the hotel saying that he needed rest to start training the next day. Shizune too left to get some sleep while Tsunade and Jiraiya said they needed to talk some more. They would talk until late that night about and even then Tsunade was refusing to become the Godaime Hokage but Jiraiya could see that Naruto's words had shocked her. Maybe just maybe she would change her mind but he would have to see in the next two weeks.

The next morning Naruto woke up after sleeping very soundly, he was a little worried about the bet but he knew that he wouldn't give up on his dream. All he had to do was work on his new jutsu and he had plenty of time and idea's to do that. He even thought about using his Kage Bunshins but that would be considered cheating in his eyes besides he wanted to show the old hag that he didn't need extra help from his clones. He took a shower before leaving the room in search for some breakfast, he quickly found a small place where they sold some Obento lunch boxes and bought two of them. One for breakfast and the other for lunch later on that day.

After eating breakfast he got ready to start training, his new techniques was pure chakra manipulation just like the Rasengan but proved to be much more difficult to create. So far he had managed to shape it into its desired form for only a few moments before it lost its composition. He didn't have any trouble shaping his chakra thanks to the training he did for the Rasengan but for this technique it seemed that he needed to start out small and gradually make it bigger. So that was what he did for the next few hours, he shaped his chakra into the form only it was so small it fitted into his palm but he noticed that he could hold it a little longer than before so with new found enthusiasm he continued training until nightfall. When he got back to the hotel he was satisfied with the results of his training that day, he had succeeded into holding the shape for over a minute so he hoped that by tomorrow evening he would be able to hold for two minutes. He entered the room and like he suspected Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen so he just took a shower and relaxed a bit before reviewing the seals of the Hiraishin. An hour later he heard someone knocking on the door and to his surprise it was Tsunade's apprentice Shizune.

"Shizune-san, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong but I wanted to have a word with you." She said entering the room. "I would like to explain Tsunade-sama's action from last night."

"Explain? What is there to explain?" Naruto said calmly before sitting down again.

"Please do not judge Tsunade-sama after last night, she isn't a bad person she's just….."

"Shizune-san, it seems to me that you're under the impression that I hate or dislike Tsunade-Baachan." Naruto said softly. "I assure you that's not the case, on the contrary I'm sure she's a wonderful person and that's why I did what I did last night."

"What do you mean." Shizune asked perplexed.

"I challenged her to make her doubt herself and her reasons to hate Konoha. Jichan chose her to be his successor and I trust him completely, if he says she's the best person for the job then I believe him." He said trying to explain his actions. "But when I saw her I noticed just how lost she was, for someone like me who wore a emotional mask for almost my whole life it's easy to recognize the signs of loneliness."

"You noticed that?" Shizune said while looking down.

"Off course, she hides by gambling and drinking because it takes her mind of things. I used to shout all the time, play pranks and annoy everybody. You can hide a lot from people by acting but the eyes always shows the truth." He said with a sad little smile. Shizune nodded hearing that.

"You should know that you got through to Tsunade-sama last night." Shizune said. "The fact that she's betting her necklace shows me that she is taking another chance."

"I don't understand what the necklace has to do with it." Naruto said confused.

"The necklace is cursed or so she believes. She gave it to her brother and lover as a token of her trust in them. But both of them got killed shortly after receiving it." Shizune explained. " After that she kept it for herself."

"Well, guess I'll have to show her that she's wrong about that necklace won't I?" Naruto said full of confidence.

Naruto and Shizune talked for a few more hours about themselves and about general things. Shizune discovered that Naruto was actually a very sensitive guy who was also a very good listener. He could also tell stories with such conviction that she was sitting at the edge of her chair waiting to hear what happened next. She was very surprised when he said that he had a girlfriend that was almost 10 years older and when he told her name she actually fell of her chair. She remembered Anko from when she still lived in Konoha. Naruto told her about the six months they spend together in the Forest of Death making her shiver as she recalled that particular training place pretty well. When Shizune left she thought that she had started to form a tentative friendship with the blonde shinobi and wished him good luck with his Jutsu to which Naruto replied that the necklace was as good as his making her smile at his confidence. She went back to the hotel she stayed at with Tsunade and entered their room hoping her master would be there and not gambling and drinking without her supervision.

"Tsunade-sama? Are you here?" She called out when opening the door.

"Shizune, where have you been? I've been back for hours." Tsunade said while tapping her foot while glaring at her apprentice.

"Ah, sorry Tsunade-sama but I went to speak a bit with Naruto-kun." Shizune said going over to her bed where she changed into her nightclothes.

"The brat? Why did you talk to him anyway?" Tsunade snorted loudly. She still hadn't forgiven or forgotten his harsh words from the other day.

"Please Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun is actually a very nice person if you get to know him a little." Shizune said softly before crawling into her futon.

Tsunade however stayed quiet and she too got ready for bed but the feelings she had been getting ever since she met Naruto where on her mind and sleep didn't come as easy for her. She tossed and turned in her futon for hours before sleep finally claimed her. She resolved to talk to Jiraiya later on and maybe even go check up on the blonde, without him knowing off course.

In Konoha people were finally getting things under control again, there still was a lot of work to be done to repair the damages but things were starting to look up again. The most urgent repairs had been done and now they would start to focus on repairing the rest of village. People started to get over the shock of being attacked in their own home and slowly but surely they felt safe again, they went outside without fear of being attacked and most of the people were ready to begin with their daily lives .

The Sandaime however was far from happy, the fact that Uchiha Itachi and his partner had entered the village without anyone noticing was something he couldn't accept. If a S-rank Nukenin could get inside the village like that things were seriously wrong. Konoha would have to change its ways if it wanted to survive in the Shinobi world, if they started showing weakness like that it wouldn't take long before other villages like Iwa and Kumo would take advantages of their problems. He seriously hoped Naruto succeeded in bringing Tsunade back as Godaime Hokage because he was too old to deal with stuff like this.

Another problem was Uchiha Sasuke who was still in the hospital after his brother's attack. According to the medic's Sasuke was psychically healthy but his mind was heavily attacked and who knows what this would mean for the already rather unstable young shinobi. It seemed that the young Sharingan user was so focused on revenge that he even forgot to worry about his own personal wellbeing. Sandaime sighed loudly and took out his pipe to relax a bit. Just when he was about to light it someone knocked on his door and he ushered them in.

"Good day Hokage-sama, Team 8 reporting for duty." Kurenai said while giving the Hokage a slight bow.

"Ah yes Team 8, let's see here." The Sandaime said while ruffling through the stack of scrolls. "Hmmm, not this one." He said before grabbing another scroll. "Not this one either, aha perfect." He said while presenting Team 8 with scroll. " The mayor of a nearby village is asking help to deal with a gang who deals in human trafficking and slave trading. You are to scout out their numbers and locations and report back so we can send out the necessary forces to deal with them."

"Why can't we deal with them, Hokage-sama?" Kiba asked politely. He might be on good terms to him thanks to Naruto but he knew he wouldn't get away with being disrespectful.

"Because Kiba-kun, organizations like these always have a huge number of men. While they are normal thugs and villains their number is just too great for one team to handle." Sandaime said. He didn't mind answering question as long as they were asked in a respectful way.

"Understood Hokage-sama, we'll leave right away." Kurenai said. She was a women on a mission, literally. She hated those kind of men who abused women and children, treating them like common cattle to sell and use for their own profits.

Team 8 was dismissed and Kurenai told them to meet at the main gate in half an hour. The genin nodded and went to prepare for their new mission. When they met at the gate the four of them were armed and ready to leave. The village wasn't that far so they made haste and hoped they would arrive after about two or three hours. While making their way to the village Hinata came to the conclusion that this was the first time in a long time that they did a mission without Naruto and Anko by their side. Kurenai agreed but said she was confident that they could do this mission on their own which off course set Kiba off to agree loudly.

They hopped through the trees much to the enjoyment of Kiba and Akamaru who were in their element. Hinata and Kurenai were talking about something and Shino was keeping quiet as always. Shortly after lunch they arrived at the village and Kurenai told them to wait just outside while she tried to gather some information. She knew how these kind of men operated and once she was inside the village she would be marked by them. A beautiful women alone would be the perfect target and even though she could always fight her way out that would ruin the mission as the gang would be alerted of Shinobi presence. So she used a Genjutsu to make her appear as an older lady on her way through the village, she used her skills to listen to the conversations of the townspeople and the other women. She hated gossip but this was one time where it actually had a use so she paid close attention to what was being said.

After listening to the women gossip and talk for a good twenty minutes she figured that she had learned everything she could find out from them and she bought some food just to remain in character before getting back to her Genin. She didn't waste any time with looking around at town in search for any shady people knowing that would bring her under suspicion. Arriving back at the place where she left her students she quickly dropped the Genjutsu and motioned them to follow her back into the forest. She asked Hinata to use her Byakugan to scope the area to check if they were truly alone. Hinata quickly confirmed that everything was safe.

"Alright, I didn't get much information but I did find out that one of men from the village had noticed some activity not far from here." Kurenai said while giving each of them a can of juice. "According to him there might be a bandit camp several miles south from here."

"Sensei, if they knew where the camp is then why didn't they take any action?"

"Don't forget Hinata that these are simple townsfolk. They're not trained for combat like we are from young age. While bandits and thugs are not really a threat to us, except in large numbers, but for them they are life threatening adversary's." Kurenai explained which was true. A regular bandit was no match for a trained shinobi even if they were genin. Only when their numbers were big they could become a threat.

"So how do we proceed, sensei?" Shino asked.

"We'll slowly make our way towards the place where the camp supposedly is." Kurenai said before standing up. "Hinata, when we get close enough I want you to use you Byakugan to find them and make an estimate of their numbers." Hinata nodded showing that she could count on her.

"Shino, I want you to use your bugs as well to look for any captives." She said pointing to Shino. "Kiba, you'll be our backup and watch our back." Both boys nodded their consent. "Remember, under no circumstances are we to engage the enemy. If we alert them now we'll lose our chance to capture them all and free the captive people."

The three genin nodded and they slowly (in shinobi terms) travelled through the forest in search for the camp. They didn't have to search long as Kiba alerted them that he smelled meat being cooked over a fire right. Hinata activated her bloodline and scanned the area, her Byakugan was able to see a great distance and she quickly found a large open area with held a large number of tents and cages filled with women and children. Her blood started boiling as she saw in what condition they were kept and it took a lot of restraint not to kill the men in the camp.

"Sensei, I found them." She whispered. "Approximately one and a half mile ahead."

"Very well, let's move closer but be careful not to get noticed." Kurenai said guiding her team closer to the camp.

They slowly moved closer to the camp careful not to be heard or seen by the thugs and bandits. Thanks to Hinata's Byakugan they were able to avoid detection and they reached the camp safely. Kurenai ordered them to their positions so that they could get an estimate of the number of men and the layout of the camp. The cleanup team would need to know as much information as possible so they could successfully wipe them out without risking the prisoners. Half an hour later they met up at their previous position and they made their way back to Konoha as quick as possible. When they arrived at the village it was close to nightfall but they went straight to report to the Hokage. Maybe he would issue a strike that very night if there was a team available. Kurenai and her team entered the Tower they were told that the Hokage was still in his office and that they were free to go see him.

The Sandaime Hokage was just finishing up his last paperwork of the day and just wanted to go home and rest. The last few weeks were having a heavy toll on his health. He sighed when he heard someone knocking on the door but told them to come in thinking that if he didn't do it tonight it would be waiting for him in the morning and the mornings were even worse than ever.

"Hokage-sama, Team 8 reporting from their mission." Kurenai said bowing slightly to her leader.

"Ah yes, please proceed Kurenai-san."

"Sir, after a small information gathering we discovered the camp about three miles south of the village in question. The camp is placed inside a clearing surrounded by trees. We got closer to determine their numbers and the layout of the camp."

"Very well, do you have an estimate how many they are?"

"The four of us counted a force of about fifty to sixty men armed with knives and swords. At the time of our mission no shinobi was seen amongst the men. They are however well organized and the camp is well guarded as well."

"What about the prisoners? How is their condition and numbers?"

"The prisoners are situated in the middle of the camp surrounded by tents and heavily guarded by several men. The number is about thirty women and children mostly girls, their condition is bad. Most of them are malnourished and some of them are wounded or hurt. The children are of course frightened but the women are taking care of them."

"What is your opinion on how to act?"

"Sir, I propose we take immediate action. Although there were no signs that they would leave in the coming days, the longer we wait the more chance we have of losing them."

The Sandaime nodded thinking exactly the same thing. The safety of the prisoners was a priority and the village had paid for the elimination of the gang and the rescue of their townspeople. He pressed a button and an Anbu arrived not a few seconds later.

"Get me the two chuunin teams currently on standby and Mitarashi Anko." He said. The Anbu nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Hokage-sama, can we come as well?" Kiba asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry Kiba-kun but not this time. The three of you did an excellent job today but you've travelled back and forth between the villages. Because of that you're tired and you're chakra reserves are low which could endanger the survival of the captives." The hokage said placing a hand on Kiba's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, thanks to the info you and you're team provided the strike team will have no problem completing the mission. You can be proud of yourselves."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Hinata said. Though she wanted to help with the mission she had to admit that she was tired and she wouldn't want to be a liability to the other teams.

"Kurenai-san, if you're up to it I want you to go with them and provide a distraction with Genjutsu allowing the team to attack."

"Understood Sir, I'll be happy to help." Kurenai said before turning towards her team. "Get some rest and meet me tomorrow at the usual time and place for training. You all did great today, next time you'll have a change to help out more, I promise."

"Your sensei is right, don't be hasty and things will come soon enough." The Hokage said before dismissing the genin.

Kurenai met up with Anko and the two chuunin teams and started relaying the information she had gathered. They had quickly come up with a plan to deal with the thugs fast and efficiently. A half hour later they departed for their mission. She knew she would have to tell her team what happened tomorrow and Anko told her that she would help out with the training as well.

* * *

This marks the end of Chapter 23 of the story. Hopefully you like the way I had Naruto and Tsunade interact. It seemed a lot like the original only that Naruto stood up more for what he believed in and that he wasn't afraid to tell Tsunade off. The bet is about the same except it isn't the Rasengan that he needs to learn but a whole new technique. Careful, Tsunade didn't say he has to complete or master it in two weeks, he needs to impress her with it.

The mission with Team 8 was something to get them used to working without Naruto for a while, I know the mission seemed a little silly and that the idea has already been done. Also I suspect some people will tell me that they could have defeated a group of thugs by themselves. I would have to agree on some level seeing that they defeated the thugs during the wave arc but this time they have to consider the prisoners so they can't take any chances. If they attacked and be forced to retreat for some reason they would lose the opportunity to free the captives so that's why I didn't let them deal with the thugs?

Anyway the next chapter will be up on Sunday 29th of June. 'Chapter 24: Because I'm the Godaime Hokage' See you guys then.


	24. Chapter 24: Because I'm the Godaime

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone, how is everyone doing?

Me, I'm doing great so far. Exams are finished (FINALLY), it's summer and I'm leaving for a 3-week trip to Japan in a few days. Yes, you heard right I'm going to Japan (actually it's the third time) and I'm very excited about it. It has been 2 years since I've been there so I have missed a lot of things about Japan. To those of you who have been to Japan, you know just how fantastic Tokyo and Kyoto are. The atmosphere there is just incredible, making me feel right at home. Off course the fact I speak Japanese helps a lot too.

So for the next 3 weeks there won't be any updates. I know I could use an internet café to upload the chapter but the truth is that I'm out of chapters lol. By this I mean that I don't have any chapters written on computer (although a lot of the future chapters are already in my head) so I'll use the time I find in Japan to write them out (did you know that the flight from Belgium to Japan takes about 12-13 hours!?). So by the time I'll get back from this trip I'll have some new chapters ready for you to read. Maybe if I find the time to finish the next chapter early I'll post it but I can't make a promise. I'll do my very best so no worries.

Anyway enough chattering, let's go read the new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.Later.

Chapter 24: Because I'm the Godaime Hokage

For the third day in a row Tsunade was watching Naruto working on his new jutsu. She couldn't exactly see what kind of jutsu it would be but she noticed that he was training from dusk till dawn without stopping. She had to admit that she was impressed with his determination. She just didn't understand why he would give everything he got to win this bet. Sure she had provoked him a little and she had asked him to bet his dream. But people can find new dreams so why risk everything for just one dream, why risk his life for the title of Hokage? What was so good about being Hokage anyway? Maybe she could ask him but something prevented her from approaching him. Today she would have a talk with Jiraiya about the blonde Hokage to be.

She stepped back and turned to make her way to the village in search for her apprentice who had already taken a liking to the boy. They had dinner together several times in the past few days and she always said that Naruto was a kind and amazingly caring person. But when she asked about it Shizune told her that if she wanted to know what she meant she would have to find out for herself by talking to the boy. Seriously, Shizune was becoming stricter with the passing day. Just this morning she had berated her for drinking so much last night. For god's sake she was an adult she could do whatever she wanted. Still Shizune had been with her through all these years and she was a great friend to have, she would never have survived without her.

Reaching the hotel she saw that Shizune was nowhere in sight so she left again to find her perverted fellow Sanin. Though she would never admit to his face she respected Jiraiya as a shinobi, he was a Sanin for a reason and his strength was second to none. Even Orochimaru would have a hard time dealing with the Toad Sanin. Speaking of the snake she would have to reward him with a good kick in the balls for using a resurrection technique on her great-grandfather and great-uncle to use them in battle against Sarutobi-sensei. He better come near her for a very long time. Shaking her head clear of such violent thoughts she went to the one place she knew the pervert would be, the hotsprings.

Jiraiya was enjoying a nice quiet afternoon of doing research, the hotspring in the village wasn't big but the number of beautiful girls in the village was good enough to entertain him. Also the fact that none of them were kunoichi who could detect him was a bonus as well. He was currently writing a scene that would be a goldmine for his next book. This would be his best volume yet, now if only he could get the drop on Naruto and Anko he thought. Suddenly he felt a shiver run across his spine and he gulped, he knew that shiver and he knew exactly what had caused it as well. He slowly turned his head hoping he was wrong. As he saw the world's strongest pervert basher he realized this would hurt. A lot.

"N-Now Tsunade, don't do anything you would regret."

"Don't worry pervert, I won't. As a matter of fact I'll enjoy this very much." Tsunade said while slamming her fist in her palm.

Seconds later the most inhuman screams of pain known to mankind were heard in the village. Even some of the women at the hotsprings enjoying themselves felt a moment of pity, but then they realized he was spying on them so they started to cheer Tsunade on. After working out some of her frustrations on her ex-teammate she dragged him to the nearest bar to get a drink. Jiraiya would be back to good health by the time they arrived so it was all good. Entering the bar she threw him in a seat before sitting down as well.

"Seriously Jiraiya don't you ever get tired of being a pervert?"

"How could you ask or say such a thing? It's like I would ask you to stop gambling or stop being a medic. It just won't happen." Jiraiya happily said before grabbing the bottle of sake.

"Hey that's mine, get your own." She said before she forcibly took the bottle back to which Jiraiya ordered his own.

"So I'm guessing you have something to ask me if you drag me away from my precious research."

"Mention your research again in my presence and you'll lose something very valuable. But yes I do have some questions."

"Fine, ask away."

"Tell me about the gaki. What's his story?"

"He's gained your interest hasn't he?" Jiraiya smirked. "Very well but I can't tell you all that much, I only met him during the month before the Chuunin exams."

"Just tell me what you know. I don't understand him at all."

"He's not all that hard to understand actually. You know about his status as Jinchuuriki so you can guess how he grew up in the village. He wasn't exactly liked or loved, Sensei was at a time the only one who showed him kindness or encouragement. He was treated like dirt in the academy, teachers ignored him or hindered his progress every way they could so there's no mistake he was the dead last in his class."

Jiraiya proceed to tell her how Naruto was tricked into stealing the Forbidden scroll and how he learned the Kage Bunshin in just a few hours. He told her how he kicked Mizuki's ass with said technique and how he met Anko and the start of his training in the 'Forest of Death'.

"Wait, did you just say he mastered a Jounin technique in just a few hours?"

"I did. Naruto is someone like me, he's not a genius who understands everything from the start or someone who gets it right the first time. Naruto is someone who tries hard in everything he does and he learns by doing things again and again."

"Yeah, I remember how different you and Orochimaru were in that aspect."

"That's right and Konoha is still fixated on people who're considered a genius. The rest is considered inferior to those called a genius although things have changed for the better. Anyway once he had a teacher who saw his potential Naruto started getting stronger and stronger. He was one of the two genin who were promoted to Chuunin, who both were considered slackers or weaklings, thanks to the way he fought in the finals and his actions during the attack."

"So the story about how he fought side by side with Sensei is true?"

"Absolutely. I didn't witness the fight but Sensei told me that without Naruto's help he would have lost."

"But why? Why does he want to become Hokage of a village that treated him so bad?"

"I asked him the same question. He said that part of it was that to him showing those who didn't consider him worthy or ignored him would be the greatest revenge he could have. He also said that running away is something a coward does and that isn't who he is. He will face his problems head on and become the one the whole village turns to in time of need."

"A coward huh?"

"Tsunade, don't you think it's time to stop living in the past and start living in the present? I'm not telling you to forget Dan and Nawaki, far from it, I'm not even telling you to stop mourning them only that maybe you need to move on. Like they would have wanted."

Tsunade didn't answer but stood up and left the bar without saying a word to Jiraiya. He wasn't offended by her actions he knew that she needed to think this through on her own. The last few days had been stressful for her not only that but for the first time in years she started doubting herself. Jiraiya smiled and raised his cup.

"Sensei, you were about Naruto being the one who would get through to her." He said to himself. "Right enough interruptions let's see if those beauty's are still at the hotsprings."

Tsunade just roamed through the village with no real destination in mind, she just walked thinking about what she had learned about Naruto and how it reflected on herself. Thanks to her talk with Jiraiya she had gained some insight into the mystery that was Namikaze Naruto. Still she had many questions that she had no answer to but those questions could only be answered by the one person she was slightly afraid to see right now. But it seemed her feet were betraying her as she noticed that she had arrived at the grounds where Naruto trained on his new jutsu. She looked around for the young shinobi but she didn't find him at first. Straining her eyes she saw him laying on the ground apparently sleeping or resting between training. She hesitated but went to join him, she needed to talk to him she realized.

"Are you awake?"

"Huh? Tsunade-Baachan, what are you doing here?" He asked wondering what she wanted now.

"Don't call me that! I'm not that old." She said bonking him on the head but not nearly as hard as she wanted.

"Whatever, so what can I do for you?"

"I just had an enlightening conversation with Jiraiya about you. I want to know just who Namikaze Naruto is."

"You talked to Ero-sennin? How did you manage that without him turning the conversation in something perverted?"

"Let's just say I have strong countermeasures." She smirked.

"I bet. So what do you want to know?"

"Why don't you hate the village for what they've done to you? Why don't you resent your dad for sealing the Kyuubi inside you?"

"The reason why I don't hate the village is simple really. When I was a kid I always wondered why they didn't like me, I thought I did something wrong or bad. But one day Jichan came up to me and treated me to my first bowl of ramen. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. And from that day I considered him the one person I could always turn to in case I needed help. One day I asked if I was a bad person but jichan told me I wasn't and that if I worked hard then one day I would be accepted by the village and seen as a true hero. Off course at that time I didn't know why I should be considered a hero but it was enough for me to decide that one day I would be the biggest hero Konoha had ever known. And who's a bigger hero than the man who defeated the Kyuubi and saved the village?"

Tsunade was listening very closely to Naruto's words and she felt something stir inside her. The way he spoke, with such conviction and full of emotions she couldn't help but feel impressed.

"So that's why you decided to become Hokage?"

"Part of it yes, the other reason was that I wanted to make sure that nobody would ever have to live the way I did. Sandaime-jichan did everything he could to help me so I convinced myself that if I were to become Hokage myself then I would be able to help others too."

"What about the fact that your dad sealed one of the strongest beings on the planet inside you?"

"Oh believe me, when I first found out I was pissed. I just didn't understand why it had to be me. But then I realized that he trusted me with the survival of the village and I felt kind of proud. Off course I didn't like it but it felt really good to be chosen for such an important task. When I found out that Yondaime was my dad it made more sense to me than ever, who could he trust more than his own child? My parents gave everything they had to protect the people they loved the most and for that I'm immensely proud of my parents."

"But doesn't it get hard to deal with all that? Doesn't it bother you?"

"It hasn't been easy, but look at it this way. If my dad didn't choose me I probably wouldn't have met Anko-chan, Kurenai sensei and Team 8 who are my best friends or even Ero-sennin and you and Shizune. I hate the Kyuubi as much as the next person but it gave me the chance to meet the people I love most of all. It took away my parents but it gave me a new family to love and care for and for them I'll become the strongest shinobi ever so that they won't ever have to worry about me and that I can always protect them."

While Naruto was talking Tsunade was looking at him and for a moment she thought she saw the images of her 2 most precious persons standing behind him smiling at her. Their smiles were everything she had ever wanted to see and tears started forming in her eyes. In a way it seemed that their spirits were giving her a message to once again take a chance, to once again open her heart and let someone in. In that split second that she saw them she had made up her mind, she would stop running from the past and become the person they wanted her to be. She would protect the village Dan, Nawaki and Naruto loved so much to risk everything for until the day Naruto would be ready to take her place. In her mind she said goodbye to her little brother and the man she had loved like no other and stood up.

"Naruto please stand up."

"Why, what's the matter?"

"Just do it and close your eyes."

Naruto obeyed thinking it would be best not to anger someone who could punch you into the next millennium so he did as he was told. He got up and closed his eyes only to feel something being put around his neck. Before he could even ask what she was doing he felt his headband being lifted and the feeling of two soft lips kissing his forehead. He opened his eyes only to see Tsunade smiling at him.

"You won Gaki, the necklace is yours."

"What? But what about my jutsu? I thought I needed to impress you?"

"You did impress me Naruto. You just didn't need a jutsu to do it."

"So what does this mean? What happens now?"

"I guess now we go get Shizune and the pervert and start making our way back to Konoha since I have a job offer waiting for me."

"A job offer? Wait, you mean you agree on becoming Godaime Hokage?" Naruto asked shocked.

"I decided to keep the chair warm until you're ready to take my place Gaki. Until that day I will be the Godaime Hokage."

Naruto couldn't believe what he just heard, the women who only a week and a half before considered the title of Hokage something that you put out with the trash now decided to become the Godaime Hokage and not only that but she admitted and recognized that he had what it takes to become Hokage himself. He was astonished but immensely glad that she had agreed to the position of Hokage seeing that the village needed a strong leader like herself. If she was anything like he thought she was then the village would be in good hands for years to come.

"Come on future Hokage, let's get back to the hotel."

"Right behind you, Godaime-Baachan." Naruto said ducking under a punch.

"You better start showing me some respect Gaki, I'm your boss now."

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Ero-sennin. Respect is earned not given, but I guess I can at least try." Naruto joked before running ahead laughing.

Tsunade just shook her head and started chasing him back to the village. She felt liberated and for the first time in a very long time she felt happy and she would do anything to keep that feeling alive. When they reached the hotel they went straight for Tsunade and Shizune's room to check if she was there. They almost demolished the door both tumbling inside laughing loudly.

"Tsunade-sama, Naruto-kun what is going on?" Shizune said when she came to investigate the noise.

"Shizune-neechan, guess what? I won the bet and Tsunade-Baachan decided to become the Godaime Hokage!"

"W-What? Is this true Tsunade-sama?"

"Yes it's true now get dressed into something festive. We're need to celebrate."

Shizune hurried and changed into a more festive attire and joined Naruto and Tsunade. They went for a small detour to get Jiraiya to come as well, off course Tsunade kicked him in face when they found him spying on a couple doing the horizontal mambo but after that they entered the closest bar they could find. Once inside Naruto started coughing and his eyes started watering from all the smoke caused by the people who were smoking. It took a bit of getting used to but a few minutes later he was fine and joined the rest at their table. Tsunade had already ordered for everyone and gave a cup of sake to Naruto as well.

"Tsunade-sama, you can't give sake to Naruto-kun. He's too young for that." Shizune argued.

"Nonsense Shizune. Old enough to kill, old enough to drink. Besides it's only this one time."

"Oh all right but only this once."

Naruto was looking at the cup placed in front of him and wondered if he would like the taste of sake. He never had alcohol before so he wasn't sure he should be drinking this. Nonetheless this was a joyous occasion so why not try it? He slowly put the cup at his lips and let the fluid enter his mouth. Unfortunately he wasn't prepared for the effects and once again he started coughing and his face was burning red. Tsunade and Jiraiya were laughing like crazy while Shizune was patting him on the back hoping his coughing fit would pass. Naruto stopped coughing a few seconds later and glared at the two Sannin sitting in front of him.

"Why the hell do adult like this stuff? It burns and tastes horrible."

"What's wrong Gaki, not man enough to hold you liquor?"

"Whatever Baachan, I'm not drinking anymore of that stuff. I've seen what it does to Ero-sennin the morning after."

Naruto ordered something else and they had a great time laughing and telling stories. Naruto was amazed at some of the stories Jiraiya and Tsunade were telling and he could help but respect them a little more. He knew they were strong and considered legends each in their own way but still hearing it from the source is a lot different than reading or hearing about it. The bar they had chosen seemed to be very popular since it was packed with people, Naruto had seen all sorts of men and women enter and leave during the time they were there. There had even been some fights between some men who probably were fighting over the same girl. One group in particular stood out in Naruto's mind, as soon as they entered he knew they would be trouble and so far he had been right. The group picked fights with the other people and they were loud as hell.

One of the men, obviously the leader judging by the way the others acted around him, had been staring at Shizune and Tsunade for quite a while now and frankly it was annoying Naruto. Both Shizune and Tsunade didn't seem to notice or they were ignoring him, Naruto guessed they were used to things like that. They were beautiful women after all. Still he had a feeling that things would become troublesome very fast. The leader got up and come over to their table and started to harass both of the women. At first they ignored him as much as possible and Naruto was itching to act but managed to stay calm. That was until the man put his arm around Shizune and pulled her close. Shizune recoiled from the stench of booze coming of the man and Naruto interpreted it that she was too scared to push him off. Before anyone could act Naruto, who had been sitting next to her, pulled out one of his knives and placed it at a very important part of the male anatomy, the man visibly froze looking down at the knife. He then heard a terrifying voice whisper something in his ear.

"_**I would like it very much if you would keep your filthy hands of my friend. I'll count to three before I slice off what you deem so great." **_

Needless the say the man didn't want to lose his little friend and backed off immediately returning to his table like he had seen a ghost. It didn't take long before he and his gang left the bar in search for other entertainment. He took a last look at Naruto's back and swore that he would have his revenge. All he had to do was wait until he was alone.

"Thank you Naruto-kun, but I can handle myself you know?"

"I know but that doesn't mean you should have to Shizune-neechan. I despise men like him."

"Unfortunately Gaki, men like that are everywhere. Women have learned to deal with them a long time ago. But it was still a nice gesture."

The incident was quickly forgotten and the evening was spent in a very good atmosphere and even Naruto had to admit that going out for a drink with friends actually was a lot of fun. He would have to introduce this concept to his genin friends minus the alcohol off course. A few hours later Naruto was getting tired so he decided to head back to the hotel wanting to get some rest before they left for Konoha the next day. Shizune too excused her and accompanied Naruto back while talking along the way. Halfway to the hotel Naruto noticed some movement around them and sighed, apparently someone was going to try to get some revenge.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here guys? It's a boy and a bird."

Naruto and Shizune turned and saw the gang from the bar standing there armed with knives and sticks. They didn't need much time to figure out what they were planning to do.

"I'll get you back for humiliating me in front of everybody, you blonde brat." The leader sneered at Naruto making him smile a little.

"Are you that stupid that you can't see the headband I'm wearing? For those of you who don't know the meaning of this, it means that I'm a shinobi of Konoha. You guys don't stand a chance against us."

"Shinobi or not, you're just a kid and the women behind you can't be much stronger than you."

Naruto wondered if the man wasn't a little touched in the head. Insulting a kunoichi like that was almost a sure way to get yourself killed, the man was extremely lucky that Anko or Kurenai weren't here otherwise he would wake up in the hospital, if he would even wake up at all. He took out his sword and smirked as most of them took a step backwards. He stabbed the tip of the sword into the ground and traced a line between him and the gang before re-sheathing his sword.

"I'll warn you now, those of you who pass this line will regret it. I'll respond with force to those who pass it so do the smart thing for once and leave us alone."

Naruto and Shizune just turned to continue their way back to the hotel and for a moment Naruto thought they would follow his advice but it seemed the leader was thickheaded enough to ignore his warning. As soon as Naruto had his back turned the man raced towards him with an iron bar held in both hands. Naruto turned back and faced the man head on, just when he was hit in the face with the bar Naruto's hand shot out catching it cleanly without any visible effort. The man struggled trying to wrestle the bar out of Naruto's hand but no matter how much force he used the thing didn't even budge. Next thing he knew was getting the air knocked out of his lungs and a immense pain in his stomach area. His eyes rolled back in his sockets and his slipped into unconsciousness before even hitting the ground.

"Anyone else who would like to try?"

Seeing their leader laying on the ground the rest of the men quickly choose not to follow his example and shook their heads. They quickly turned around and vanished as fast as they possibly could into the streets hoping that Naruto wouldn't come after them. Naruto however just turned around again and joined Shizune before saying goodbye when they reached her hotel. Not even a minute later he arrived at his own hotel and went straight for his room.

The next morning Naruto woke feeling refreshed and ready to go but he knew better than to expect that Jiraiya would already be ready. He hadn't even heard him return last night so he could only wonder how late it had been. He looked around and saw clothes all over the room, deciding he didn't want to be the one that had to clean up he sneaked outside enjoying the morning sun and tranquility. He went to the hotel where the two girls stayed and knocked on the door, a few seconds later a well rested Shizune opened the door for him.

"Good morning Shizune-neechan."

"Hello Naruto-kun, you're up early. Is Jiraiya-same here as well?"

"Ero-sennin? No way, he's still sleeping off his hangover from last night."

"What are you doing here so early Gaki?" Tsunade asked quietly trying not to worsen her headache.

"GOOD MORNING TSUNADE-BAACHAN!"

"GODDAMMIT GAKI DON'T YELL! MY HEADACHE IS BAD ENOUGH AS IT IS!"

Shizune was chuckling at the two of them, she knew Naruto just yelled at her to annoy her and apparently he was very good at it too. Tsunade had never been a morning person to begin with and after all the drinking she and Jiraiya had done last night she wasn't surprised that Tsunade had a major headache. To save her teacher she told Naruto that they would go and have breakfast in one of the many establishments in the village. This would give Tsunade the time to get dressed and ready before she got Jiraiya and joined them later on. Naruto, who was feeling hungry immediately agreed and together they left.

It was about two hours later that Naruto and Shizune were joined by the two Sannin, they quickly ordered some breakfast and ate in silence. Their headaches gone both of them were enjoying the satisfaction of having eaten. As the four had packed their stuff they set out to return to Konoha and Naruto was impatient to see his friends but especially Anko, he missed her a lot during this trip and on the way of the village he bought some local foods and candy for her. He knew she would enjoy that. Seeing that there was no need to travel slowly they travelled in true shinobi style meaning jumping across trees and high speed movement. If all went well they would reach Konoha in a few days assuming they would rest along the way and stop traveling at night.

"So Tsunade, any special plans for Konoha? Seeing you're the new Hokage you can change the things you don't approve off. Or at least some of them."

"I don't know really, it's been so long since I set foot in that village. Things must have changed quite a bit."

"Hey, maybe you can finally create the medical nin program you always dreamed about."

"Or you can outlaw Ero-sennin's books?"

"Naruto, don't even joke about that. Think about all those poor souls who enjoy the awesomeness of my stories."

"You know Gaki, that's not a bad idea actually. I'll remember that one."

"Tsunade, you wouldn't do that would you? You would wouldn't you? Naruto, I'm holding you responsible if that ever happens you hear me?"

Naruto just ignored him and started talking to Shizune who asked if there were any changes in the village she should know about. Jiraiya was pleading with Tsunade not to go through with the banishment of his novel saying that it would lead to a revolt by the male population in the village. Tsunade however didn't listen as she was thinking about the things that she could do once she was Hokage, she wouldn't say it but the idea of starting that medical program sounded very good to her. During the previous war she had pleaded with the Sandaime to start training more medical ninja but he refused saying that it took way too much time to train them. At that time the village needed every man and woman to fight off the enemies and none of them could be spared. When she left the village after Dan's death she had given up on that idea but maybe now was the right time to implement it.

They had travelled a great distance by nighttime so they decided to camp outside. Naruto unsealed some of his stuff like a tent and offered it to Tsunade and Shizune who accepted thanking him for being such a gentlemen. Jiraiya snorted at that but quickly shut up when he saw the glare both women were giving him. After hunting down some food and making a fire they enjoyed a quiet meal not really talking to each other. When they finished diner Tsunade asked Naruto what the technique he was trying to create was like.

"Oh no, I don't show anyone a technique that isn't finished yet."

"What? Why not?"

"I just don't, there's no special reason for it. You'll have to wait until it's ready."

"Fine, I bet it was a stupid jutsu anyway."

"Now Tsunade, I've seen some of the jutsu Naruto made and they're quite impressive. Come on Naruto show us one of your original jutsu."

At first Naruto refused saying he wasn't a performer in an act but after Tsunade and Shizune joined in the pleading he quickly gave in just to shut them up. He thought for a while and wondered which of his jutsu he could show. He decided to show them the 'Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu' which was one of this favorites. He picked out a tree and started making the necessary handseals. Tsunade and Shizune were staring at the tree which was now filled with small fires resembling a well lit Christmas tree. When nothing happened they turned to Naruto who smirked, he put two fingers together and told them to hang on to their hats before snapping his fingers detonating the firefly's literally blowing the tree to smithereens.

The three of them looked from the destroyed tree to Naruto and back before they started to congratulate him for making such a devastating and useful jutsu. Jiraiya even asked if he could learn it as well, to which Naruto answered saying that he didn't have a problem with other people learning his jutsu as long as they worked for it instead of copying it like the Sharingan can do. Tsunade admitted that this wasn't anything like she expected from a young shinobi like Naruto but she guessed it ran in the family. Like his dad before him Naruto was bound to do some extraordinary stuff she mused.

"Well, that was amazing Naruto-kun. How do you come with an idea like that?"

"I don't really know Shizune-neechan. I just think of something that might be useful and I try to find out if there's already a jutsu like that and if there isn't then I start thinking how to create it. At the beginning I had a lot of trouble but once I figured out the correct way to start, things just come naturally."

For about half an hour Naruto amused himself with watching Jiraiya who was trying to convince Tsunade to let him sleep in the tent saying that his old bones wouldn't be able to handle sleeping outside on the ground. Off course Tsunade dealt with that issue fairly quick, all that was needed was the threat of banning 'Icha Icha Paradise' to make him shut up. He decided to let it be and went to sit in the corner to work on the next edition of the perverted novel. Tsunade was still thinking about what Jiraiya had said that afternoon but at this time she didn't find anything that she would want to change but she was sure that she would find plenty of things once she was settled back in the village. She watched Naruto staring at the fire with a small smile on his face.

"Hey Gaki, what's with the smile?"

"Huh? Oh, it's just that this reminds me of the time I spend with Anko-chan in the forest. We always ate outside if the weather allowed it."

"Naruto, you said that being Hokage has been your dream for years right? If someone told you that you could change anything you want about Konoha, what would you change?"

"You sure don't ask easy question do you Tsunade-Baachan? But I have some idea's, granted some of them are just not possible but other might be more realistic."

"Like what?"

"For example the academy. I realize that there are reasons for the way things are now but if I could I would completely change the education system."

"Well, let us hear it Naruto. Who knows Tsunade here might use your idea." Jiraiya said, he had come over to listen when he heard what the discussion was about.

"Okay, for starters I would drop most of the theoretical part and make that mandatory self study with a test at the end of the week. That way the students would still learn the history of our village but a lot of time would be free to focus on the practical part of training. Right now we spend so much time inside the classroom that we lose valuable time to practice things like chakra training, weapon training and all that." Naruto said trying to explain some of the things he had thought about. "For practical training I would change most of the current system. For example when I started at the academy I never knew that there were different type of shinobi. But some of the kids, like me had dreams like becoming a medical nin or something like that. But nobody ever explained that to us or told us what we needed to do. So what about setting up a system where students, who already know what kind of shinobi they want to be, can get extra help even if it's only some encouragement or small advice?"

Naruto paused for a few second trying to find a way to convey his idea's in a way that would sound realistic and not like some thought up fantasy's of a young shinobi like himself.

"Another thing I would change and I will change it when I become the Hokage is something that goes hand in hand with the missions the village gets. Every class the sensei told us that teamwork is the most important and strongest quality that Konoha shinobi have yet not once do we practice it during the years in the academy. I would assign the students in the last year of the academy in teams of three and let them do the D-rank missions inside the village. That would not only give them the necessary teamwork training but also free up the newly graduated genin who can then focus on improving their skills."

"That's not a bad idea Naruto-kun but who would supervise them and what about the students? There're bound to be kids who don't get along or who're just not made to work together. Letting them work together with the same team would later on cause trouble if they have to work with others in their genin team."

"I thought of that as well and I would suggest the following. Change the teams every month, that way they'll learn to work with others and at the end of the year the teacher will be able to see who works well with who, making the choice of the genin team easier. As for supervision of the academy teams doing the D-rank mission there are enough retired shinobi on reserve to take care of that, all they have to do is be present after all. And their expertise can help the students as well by giving them advice."

"Gaki, I like those ideas and if you don't mind I'll talk about it with Sensei and then we'll work something out. You don't mind if I use your idea?"

"Not at all, use it all you like."

"If you have any other ideas come see in my office okay?"

"Sure thing Tsunade-Baachan. I've got lots of ideas."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"Nope, not a chance."

The next morning came quickly and after a quick breakfast the four of them set out towards the village. Tsunade was thinking about what Naruto had said last night and she had to admit that his idea had some merit. Changing the Academy course wouldn't be easy and she would probably have to negotiate with the council but that was something she could deal with. She already decided that the council needed to change as well, they had been in power for too long and though she couldn't fault Sandaime for needing their help after the Kyuubi attack, she did however thought he should have dealt more strictly with them when or if they surpassed their boundaries.

They had been traveling for some hours when Jiraiya came to a sudden halt making the rest of them wonder what was going on. Jiraiya however didn't answer any questions but looked around and stared at the trees around them. Naruto, seeing that Jiraiya was getting agitated and restless, realized that the man had sensed a enemy and put his hand on the hilt of his sword ready to attack or defend at any time.

"You can come out now, I know you're there."

A soft chuckling could be heard above them and the four of the looked up only to see the remaining Sannin standing on a branch accompanied by a familiar young shinobi who Naruto recognized as Kabuto. The two jumped of the branch and landed in front of them. Naruto took a good look at both of them, it seemed Orochimaru had recovered a bit form his last attack although Naruto was pretty sure his arms were still causing him discomfort. The fact that both his arms were bandaged seemed to reinforce his suspicion. Kabuto however looked in full health and Naruto cursed, he knew there was something strange about him when he met him just before the first exam of the Chuunin Exam. In the confusion of the attack he totally forgot about him.

"Isn't this nostalgic? The three Sannin reunited for the first times in years."

"Shut up Orochimaru. I stopped considering you as one of us the day you betrayed Konoha. You're a disgrace to the village and to the title of Sannin."

"Ah Jiraiya, still as sentimental as always. You haven't changed a bit, still the same fool only older."

"You may think I'm a fool but at least I'm not a traitor who experimented on his own comrades and fellow shinobi."

"What I did was for the good of the village but you and that fool of a Sandaime refused to see that. I could have made the village stronger than ever but you and the rest of the village were too soft to do what was necessary."

"Stop kidding yourself, you didn't care about the village. The only thing you cared about was yourself and your foolish quest to become the ultimate shinobi."

"Kukuku. You know me too well, Jiraiya. Not surprising, after all we did grow up together."

"Enough with the small talk Orochimaru. Why are you here?" Tsunade demanded.

"Ah yes, Tsunade I'm in need of your expertise. You see, my young friend here is a talented medic but even he couldn't completely heal my injuries caused by Naruto-kun there."

"Ah you're welcome Snake-face. I just wish I could have taken more than just your arms though.

"Naruto-kun, you should be careful. I told you when I left that you would regret crossing me and mark my words I will get my revenge."

"And what makes you think that I would be willing or able to fix your arms?"

"I can reunite you with the people you love most. I have a jutsu capable of bringing them back from the death. Surely you would like to see them again.

Tsunade and the rest were furious at the way Orochimaru tried to exploit Tsunade's feeling for Dan and Nawaki. Jiraiya was glad that Orochimaru didn't succeed in contacting her before he and Naruto had found her, he could only imagine how Tsunade would have reacted if he got to her first. Naruto was steaming mad at the snake Sannin, to use a person's feelings in a way was low even for him and he would make him pay if only by screwing up his future plans even more. He knew he didn't have a chance against him right now even with both arms injured.

"Orochimaru, you dare to insult my honor and integrity by proposing to betray Konoha and my precious people in such a way?"

"Since when do you care about Konoha? You left the village because it cost you everyone you ever loved."

Orochimaru would have continued talking but he and Kabuto were forced to dodge a roundhouse kick from Tsunade. The tree behind snapped in half when Tsunade's foot impacted it instead of Orochimaru's face.

"Temper, temper Tsunade. You always were a feisty thing. You didn't answer my question though."

"Why do I care about the village? It's simple really. It's because I'm the Godaime Hokage of Konoha that's why. And as the Hokage it's my duty to dispose of you."

Tsunade shot forward trying to punch him but Orochimaru evaded the punch making it slam into the ground creating a large crater. She turned around trying to get ready to launch another attack when she saw Orochimaru lift his injured arm and ripped of some of the bandage covering it. Her eyebrow lifted when she saw the state of his arm, it was ghastly to say the least. It seemed as if the arm was dying slowly and the color of the arm was a disgusting mixture of deep red and blue. Holding a kunai in the other hand Orochimaru sliced at his arm and blood sprayed around. As soon as she saw the blood flowing from his arm Tsunade froze in her tracks and started shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"Still haven't gotten rid of the silly fear of blood Tsunade? Such a shame, for a medic nin to be afraid of a little blood. Does this mean you won't heal me?"

"Orochimaru-sama, please allow me to deal with her."

"If you like Kabuto but I'm afraid you're about to face another opponent, someone who seems to want to protect her."

"Then I shall deal with them as well."

"Shit, this is bad. Naruto, Shizune you two protect Tsunade while I'll deal with Orochimaru. Be wary of that Kabuto guy, he's stronger than he looks."

"Understood." With that both Naruto and Shizune took their position in front of a shaking Tsunade ready to do whatever it took to protect the unofficial Godaime Hokage. Kabuto smirked at them obviously deciding that they weren't worth his time and effort. Orochimaru on the other hand turned to Jiraiya who was ready to take action as well. This fight would be one of his toughest and most dangerous fights in his life but he wouldn't let Tsunade get hurt if he could help it. Besides he had some private business to handle with Orochimaru as well.

This marks the end of this chapter. Hope enjoyed it.

I'm sure a lot of people wanted to know what jutsu Naruto was creating. The reason why I didn't let him finish it was because that although he's now fairly proficient at making jutsu, creating a jutsu that could equal or surpass the Rasengan in such a short period would be just too much in my opinion. I mean the Yondaime needed 3 years to create the Rasengan so having Naruto create a jutsu like that in just 2 months would be overkill.

Don't worry about the jutsu, it will make an appearance later in the story. He will need some time and lot of practice to complete it. I'm still debating how I'll deal with Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya, in any case I won't skip it with a time skip of 3 years. I'm thinking of spending a few chapters focusing on the time Naruto and Jiraiya spend together and also about the rest of the Konoha 11. Sasuke will probably leave Konoha but not right away. I'll see if I can come up with an original idea for him to leave and if I make him truly betray Konoha or if he just leaves because of his brother.

Anyway thanks for reading and if you have any remarks or suggestions don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me. Have a great time and I'll see you on Sunday the 20th of July.


	25. Chapter 25: A fight long due

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everybody, how are you all doing. Yes, I'm back from my trip to Japan and it was great. I had a wonderful time with some old friends and met lot's of new friends as well. I would have stayed longer but I was out of money lol. Japan truly is a great country and Japanese people are simply some of the best friends a person can have. I hope that those of you who are interested in Japan have the chance to go there once in your life, it's an experience you'll never forget or regret.

I feel like I owe everyone an apology for not posting this chapter before I left for Japan. The truth is that I had so many things to take care of that I didn't find the time to finish the chapter in a decent way. I preferred not to post a chapter that didn't satisfy me, so I could work on it. To be honest I had a difficult time writing this chapter, especially the fight between Kabuto and Naruto. I tried to come up with a good battle scene but it was harder that I thought. Anyway I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and let me know how you feel about it.

Enjoy the chapter.

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Chapter 25: A fight long due

Seconds past quickly but to the people involved they seemed like hours slowly ticking away. Each of them were staring at each other trying to find a lapse in concentration to exploit with an attack. So far none of them had moved an inch but things would change soon. It was impossible for fighters of this caliber to remain in a status quo. Naruto was glaring at Kabuto ready for anything the man could throw at him. With Shizune protecting Tsunade he was confident she would be fine, if only she could get rid of her fear of blood.

Jiraiya too was glaring at his opponent, his one time friend although he realized that the friendship he thought they had was purely one-sided. Orochimaru had never considered him a friend, let alone a best friend. Jiraiya wondered why he didn't see it before but he guessed it had to do with being young. He still remembered the day he confronted Orochimaru after he fled from the village, he was unable to stop him at that time because he refused to give up on his teammate and fellow Sannin. Allowing him to get away was one of his biggest mistakes and he regretted it ever since. If he had stopped him there and then the present would have been very different.

Shizune was worried about her mentor, she had known about the fear of blood for a long time. It had started after Tsunade was unable to save her boyfriend Dan on the battlefield during the war. Dan had been ambushed by the enemy and not even Tsunade herself was able to heal his wounds. Even she had limits and when Dan finally passed away Tsunade went into shock covered in her lovers blood, ever since that day she froze at the mere sight of blood. Not soon after that the war ended in favor of Konoha and Tsunade left the village unable to stay in the place that had taken away almost every person she loved. Over the years Tsunade had tried to get rid of her fears but was fairly unsuccessful in her attempts. When they needed money the two of them would work as doctors but Shizune would deal with injuries where blood was present. Tsunade herself took care of anything else, it was a good arrangement and it gave them the necessary financial support they needed.

"Naruto-kun, it would be wise to step aside and let me deal with Tsunade."

"You should know by now that I don't abandon my friends Kabuto. There is no way I'm letting you get passed me."

"Do you really think you can stop me? I'll admit that you're strong but I'm way above your level. If I had to compare then I would be around Kakashi's level."

"So? It wouldn't be the first time I defeat an opponent stronger than myself. Didn't your research tell you that?"

"So be it then, don't come crying to me when you're about to die."

Kabuto ran forward starting the fight and Naruto responded in the same way. While running towards his adversary Naruto quickly made some Kage Bunshin and together they launched an attack. Kabuto smirked seeing the Bunshins and just destroyed them while still running forward. After disposing of the last Bunshin he started an attack of his own. Kabuto was a medic nin who didn't rely on pure taijutsu like other shinobi, he used a version of the chakra scalpel trying to cut muscles and tendons. This allowed him to deal with opponent in a fast and efficient way, if he cut through the muscles in the legs they would be helpless and unable to move. If he cut the muscles in the arms it would be impossible to move them and make seals for jutsu. It was a very fast and effective way to deal with opponent but not everyone could fight this way seeing it demanded a near perfect chakra control at all time. To most shinobi that was impossible to attain so this spoke highly of Kabuto and his skills.

Naruto ducked under a punch before throwing an uppercut at Kabuto's jaw who leaned back slightly causing the punch to hit nothing but air. Kabuto retaliated by trying to cut the muscles in Naruto's lifted arm but missed due to a kick coming from his right side aimed for his knee. He back flipped over the kick and took some distance trying to analyze Naruto's fighting style. Naruto was doing the same and came to the conclusion that Kabuto was not only fast but he had good combat instincts as well.

"Not bad Naruto-kun but if that's all you're capable of then I'm afraid you won't be able to defeat me."

"What is it with you bad guys? Each and everyone I fought seemed either so confident in their skills to a point of being arrogant or they're boosting about their strength from the very beginning."

"It's not boosting or arrogant when it is the truth."

"Yeah well, tell me that after I kicked your ass."

Naruto rushed forward and tried to kick Kabuto but missed due to Kabuto leaning back letting Naruto's foot harmlessly pass over him. Naruto turned a full 360 degrees before trying to nail Kabuto with an uppercut to the jaw. Kabuto saw the punch coming but with the accelerated speed from the spin Naruto was a bit faster just gazing him on the tip of his chin. Kabuto's brain was knocked around in his skull affecting his balance and legs who refused to move for just a few seconds. Naruto who thought that Kabuto evaded saw his opponent freezing for a moment and didn't need to be told twice to take advantage of it. Faster than lighting he put his hand on the hilt of his sword and unsheathed it before slashing at Kabuto. The sword cut deeply into Kabuto's chest and a large wound appeared running horizontally from left to right. Kabuto who regained the use of his legs jumped backward not wanting to deal with another attack of Naruto's sword. Naruto let Kabuto retreat seeing he had landed an attack and looked at his opponent. The cut made into his chest was deep but not life threatening, it would however cause him some pain and discomfort. When Kabuto started to laugh Naruto narrowed his eyes not knowing why he was laughing about.

"Very good Naruto-kun, I'm impressed that you succeeded in landing a hit on me. Unfortunately it won't help you into winning this fight."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Kabuto didn't reply instead he removed his hand from the wound and to Naruto's surprise the cut made by his sword was completely gone. The only thing indicating he could have been hurt was the fact that his clothes had a large cut and were stained with blood.

"It doesn't matter what wound I suffer, as long as I have enough chakra left I can heal myself completely. Do you see now how futile our fight is? There is no way for you to win."

"So you have a healing ability as well huh? Guess that put us on even ground in that aspect of the fight."

"Off course, I heard all about the Kyuubi and how you received a healing power as well. I wonder which one is more powerful, yours or mine?"

"I don't care so you'll excuse me if I not to enthusiastic about it."

Naruto stared at Kabuto daring him to attack again but it seemed that Kabuto was waiting for him to attack first. For a second it seemed both of them were hesitant to attack but all of the sudden both of them jumped forward and they met right in the middle. Naruto who was still holding his sword, brought it down on Kabuto who blocked it with a kunai of his own. Naruto tried to overpower Kabuto but it seemed his opponent wouldn't budge even an inch. Kabuto too was trying to push Naruto back and to his surprise he had a hard time, it seemed he had made some miscalculations about Naruto's strength after all.

Seeing neither of two would let the other take the upper hand they fell back a few feet before rushing back forward filling the place with the sounds of metal meeting metal. They were moving so fast that Shizune was having trouble to follow the fight. She was after all trained as a medic nin so she wasn't really good at combat. Her job was to support and heal the fallen shinobi during the battle, she was fast enough to evade most attacks because Tsunade had trained her. According to Tsunade the most important skill of a medic nin next to the obvious medical expertise was being able to avoid getting hurt themselves. Shizune understood that part very well, if a medic nin got hurt or killed they were unable to heal injuries. She truly hoped that Naruto could deal with Kabuto but she could see that Kabuto was much more skilled than she first thought. If necessary she would interfere and give Naruto a hand but she was mostly afraid that if she left Tsunade's side that Kabuto would find a way to attack her.

Tsunade on the other hand was on her knees shaking as a leaf. The sight of Orochimaru slicing his arm and the blood that sprayed out of the wound was replaying in her head time and time again. Ever since that faithful day she was deadly afraid of blood. Even the slightest sight of it was enough to make her freeze and Orochimaru knew this all too well. Over the years she had tried to get rid of this fear but she hadn't succeeded even with the help of Shizune. However now she was a changed woman, a woman who had made a promise to become the Godaime Hokage and protect her village in the stead of her little brother and the man she loved more than anyone. She would not let them down now she told herself.

'Come on Tsunade, get a grip. You promised to Nawaki, to Dan and to Naruto that you would be strong. You can beat this fear, you're stronger than that.' Tsunade was furiously thinking. She wouldn't give up this time, she would overcome her fear and fight alongside with Naruto and Jiraiya and together they would show them that they can't mess with Konoha and its people.

Naruto was getting tired of Kabuto's constant evading and blocking his attacks. The young man was obviously very skilled and Naruto had already escaped some very dangerous attempts at his life. Kabuto was a pro with the chakra scalpel capable of cutting through muscles without any wound at the exterior. While Naruto could also use the chakra scalpel to some degree, it was nothing compared to this. If this continued he would lose this fight and that was unacceptable in his eyes. He wouldn't let Tsunade-Baachan get hurt because he was too weak to defeat one opponent no matter how skilled he was. He decided that a change of tactics was in order so before his sword met Kabuto's kunai he focused some chakra in the seal and use one of his original techniques. Bringing his sword down a large amount of chakra was released and the 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' created by the force of the sword going down. Kabuto saw the attack coming and just jumped to the side letting the attack pass him harmlessly.

"That won't work Naruto-kun. I already saw that attack during your fight with Gaara."

Naruto kept silent and just sheathed his sword before using 'Kage Bunshin No Jutsu' to make several dozen clones. The clones surrounded Kabuto who looked bored and not impressed or threatened in the least. Naruto disappeared in the crowd of clones and ordered them to attack. The clones attacked in small groups trying to catch Kabuto of guard but this proved to be much harder than Naruto thought although he should have known. Clone after clone attacked, some of them using Taijutsu while others used some weapons or a small Ninjutsu. After that the first wave of clones were defeated none of them had succeeded in landing a blow on Kabuto.

"Naruto-kun, I hope you have other jutsu or techniques at your disposal because this is getting boring."

The clones just smirked at Kabuto before a new group of them started attacking again. Kabuto ducked and blocked the clone's attack and disposed of them by using his chakra scalpel. One after the other the clones went up in smoke until only one of them remained. Kabuto thinking this was the original wasted no time and raced forward hoping to put an end to this fight. He hit Naruto right in the chest causing him to cough up blood and falling down. Kabuto started laughing loudly before turning to Shizune and Tsunade in victory. Shizune was horrified to see Naruto get hit by Kabuto and started to blame herself for not helping her new friend. When she heard Kabuto laugh she almost lost it and attacked him but she knew that she needed to stay close to Tsunade to protect her.

Kabuto was about ready to make his way over to the two women when he felt two pair of hands grab his arms. Surprised he looked at his sides and saw two clones flanking him at both sides. He looked back at were the original Naruto should be lying but to his shock that Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke as well. The clones grinned evilly and started spinning around while holding Kabuto firmly by his arms. After several high speed rotations they released him sending him sailing across the field while he tried to regain balance and stop the world from spinning in his head. Just when he was about to crash into the ground he noticed a small rock change into a clone, when he passed over it, the clone kicked him right in the back sending him upward in the sky. Kabuto felt his spine taking a bone-breaking kick and hoped his spine wasn't broken. The pain was enough to force him to close his eyes which proved to be a big mistake. If he had his eyes open he would see a clone jumping from a tree to just above him. Kabuto still in pain from the first kick almost lost consciousness when the clone clasped his hands together and delivered a devastating punch right on his chest bone sending him back down to the ground.

He slammed into the ground so hard that a large crater was formed. Kabuto couldn't believe he had been so careless to get caught. He had turned his back on an enemy that although hurt was still alive. Not only that he had been fooled in thinking that this was the real Naruto by the fact that the clone had bled before falling to the ground. Kabuto tried to get up but the pain in his back was still too big even with his healing ability, he would have to focus a lot of chakra to both his back and his chest if he wanted to get well enough to fight. Before he could even start to use his chakra however some new Naruto clones landed beside him. For a second Kabuto wondered what was going to happen next but then the clones began glowing, he realized what was going to happen and if wanted to survive he needed to get out of there right that instant. A giant explosion completely destroyed the surroundings and shrouded everything in thick smoke.

The real Naruto emerged from the ground next to Shizune hoping that his explosive clones had dealt with his opponent. The damage and destruction was enormous and the attack had cost him a lot of chakra especially the Kage Bunshin Kabuto had hit. To make it withstand a hit like that he had been forced to push a significant amount of chakra into it but the plan had worked perfectly. The exploding clones were charged with enough chakra to level a building so even with his healing ability he would been hard pressed to survive. When the smoke finally cleared Naruto looked for a sign of Kabuto but didn't find any trace of him at all. Naruto frowned and immediately raised his guard and informed Shizune that the fight wasn't over just yet.

While Naruto was looking for him Kabuto was hiding a little further trying to gather enough chakra to heal his wounds. While he had survived the blast by using 'Shunshin No Jutsu' at the very last moment he had been burned quite a lot and the pain in his back was killing him. Thanks to his training as a medic nin he had been able to reduce the damage to a degree that he could move but he couldn't heal it fully otherwise he wouldn't have enough chakra left to fight. Slowly coming out of his hiding place he addressed Naruto.

"Well done Naruto-kun. Orochimaru-sama told me not to underestimate you but I tried to ignore his advice. I doubt I can beat you now but I will get my revenge."

"If you think I will let you get away you must be crazy. You betrayed Konoha and for that you will be executed after being questioned."

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I can't allow that to happen."

With his last strength Kabuto once again used 'Shunshin No Jutsu' to move himself to Tsunade where he quickly kicked Shizune in the gut knocking the wind out of her. He tried to stab Tsunade with his kunai but before he could even get close to his victim he got hit in the jaw by a powerful punch. Kabuto was send spiraling back to where he came from into the surrounding trees crashing through several of them before coming to a stop completely knocked out. Naruto and Shizune wondered what had happened and after following Kabuto's trajectory back he saw Tsunade standing there in a punching position.

"Naruto, Shizune thanks for buying me some time to get over myself."

"Tsunade-sama, are you ok? What about the blood?"

"I'm fine Shizune, while you and Naruto were protecting me I forced myself to get over my fears. I won't break the promise I made to my precious people."

"Alright way to go Tsunade-Baachan!"

"Watch it you, don't think for one minute I'll allow you to call me that every time. I'm your Hokage so you better start calling me 'Hokage-sama'"

"Whatever Baachan."

"Gaki, if you don't want to spend the next few months doing D-rank missions you'll show me some respect right here right now."

"You can't do that! That's abuse of power!"

"Guess what Gaki, that's one of the benefits of being Hokage."

"Euh excuse me but shouldn't we go help Jiraiya-sama?"

"Oh yeah good thinking Shizune. Gaki, this isn't over but for now I'll let it slide."

"You're damn right this isn't over but fine let's go see how Ero-sennin is doing." Just then they saw Orochimaru and Jiraiya standing there both wounded and bleeding. They had just arrived in time to see Kabuto getting hit by Tsunade sending him flying into the trees.

Jiraiya saw Naruto and Shizune take their positions in front of Tsunade and he was satisfied that she would be protected. He had absolute faith in Shizune and even more in Naruto. There was no way Naruto would allow Tsunade to get hurt, he could see just how much Naruto liked her. He knew from the Sandaime that Naruto had always admired them thanks to the stories Sandaime had told when Naruto was younger. He looked up to both of them and when he had seen the state Tsunade was in he couldn't help himself and he tried to help her just like the Sandaime had said he would.

Tsunade too had gotten attached to the young son of the Yondaime, while at first she thought of him as an annoying little brat he knew that she admired him as well. Not only for how he took on the burden of carrying the Kyuubi but also his determination and his refusal to give up no matter what the odds. He wished he had remembered to tell Naruto of Tsunade's fear of blood, that had been a major error on his part but there was nothing he could do about that right now. He turned his head back to his other ex-teammate, the one who had betrayed their friendship, their sensei and their village. The fact that he didn't succeed in convincing or returning Orochimaru was one of Jiraiya's biggest shame and regrets. He couldn't believe how Orochimaru had everyone fooled until that day and that day he had let his friendship get in the way with his duty but today would be very different. Orochimaru wouldn't leave this place alive if he could help it.

"It has been a while since we had our last spar hasn't it Jiraiya-kun."

"Stop with the act Orochimaru, you don't fool anyone."

"It seems that something is bothering you. What could that possibly be? Perhaps you're afraid of losing your new apprentice?"

"I know what you're trying to do but it won't work. Naruto is stronger than you can possibly imagine, you should know this since he injured you."

"Yes, because of him my revenge against the old fool failed and I had to retreat. I still have to repay him for almost destroying my arms. Even Kabuto was unable to heal them completely."

"I will stop you and your ambitions today Orochimaru. After today the legendary Sannin will be one short, you'll pay for the crimes and atrocities you have commit."

"You haven't changed have you Jiraiya? Still the naïve and clueless fool you were back then, when will you understand that what I did would have made Konoha the strongest village to ever exist. My work could have changed the shinobi world forever but like the old man you refused to see the truth."

"Stop deluding yourself Orochimaru, you didn't care about the village back then. All you cared about is becoming the strongest shinobi and to learn every Ninjutsu in the world."

"And I will succeed in that and you won't stop me. I will become the ultimate shinobi and learn every single jutsu in the world."

"You still don't get what being a shinobi is truly about. A shinobi isn't strong because he knows every jutsu in the world. A shinobi is strong when he or she fights to protect something or someone they love. That is the true power of a shinobi but that's not something you'd understand. Sensei taught us that all those years ago and yet even after all this time you still refuse to listen."

"The old man and his pathetic speeches don't interest me. It is you who's the fool. But I guess this is a matter of opinions. That's one of the reasons I left the village as well. It sickened me to see Konoha being reduced to a society used to peace and tranquility. People became lazy and forgot what it was like to suffer, they forgot the horrors of war as soon as the peace was achieved. It was pathetic. Konoha should have crushed Iwa and destroyed it but instead it became allies of some sort."

"Sensei was right in accepting Iwa's surrender, if he continued to fight even more shinobi would have been lost on both sides. It would have meant the end of the village if he continued fighting so that's why he accepted the peace offer so quickly. "

"If the old fool had given me the title of Hokage I would have made the village great but instead he choose your blasted apprentice. I'll never forget the humiliation I had to suffer because of that."

"It was exactly because of your ambition that Sensei didn't choose you as his successor, he knew that you would lead the village into another war. He wanted peace for the village after fighting Iwa and Kumo for so long, that's why he choose Minato."

"Enough of this, I grow tired of your babbling. I'll deal with you right now."

Orochimaru extended his neck and tried to bite Jiraiya in the throat but Jiraiya easily evaded the attack by twisting his body. He tried to hit Orochimaru at the base of his skull but the body of Orochimaru had followed the head and aimed a kick at Jiraiya's lower body. Quickly jumping to the side while grabbing the Orochimaru's leg he started spinning before letting go sending Orochimaru flying. Without wasting time he started doing some handseals and used 'Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu' sending a large fire dragon towards the Snake Sannin. Orochimaru who finally regained control of his body saw the attack heading straight for him and quickly did some seals of his own. He slammed his hands into the ground and a huge slap of earth shot up successfully blocking the fire dragon. Orochimaru however winced at the pain he felt in his arms. Even though Kabuto had been able to heal them to a certain extent, any use of chakra or brusque movement earned him a large amount of pain. Not for the first time he cursed Naruto for giving him such a injury. He vowed to destroy the boy if Kabuto hadn't killed him already.

Jiraiya seeing that his attack had been blocked cursed as well. He hadn't expected that Orochimaru would be able to use his arms and jutsu's, that Kabuto character had to been better than he thought. He briefly wondered if Naruto was alright but shook his head knowing that he couldn't afford to get distracted or careless. The man he was fighting wouldn't hesitate to exploit his lack of concentration to end the fight. He forced some chakra into his legs and shot forward closing the distance between him and Orochimaru. Before the latter could react Jiraiya planted his elbow in his face knocking his head backwards, the following kick to the chest area was avoided by using the 'Kawarimi no Jutsu' with a nearby branch. Orochimaru wasn't the kind of man who would let his opponent hit him without retaliating and he used one of his signature jutsu called 'Senei Jashuu' and dozens of snake shot out of his sleeves wrapping them around the Toad Sennin. Trapped by the snakes Jiraiya couldn't avoid being hit in the face forcing him to step back a little.

Orochimaru seeing that Jiraiya was taking a few steps back tried to close the distance so he could finish the fight up close and personally. Just when he was about to reach him Jiraiya used one of his own original techniques called 'Ninpou: Harijizou' which made his hair grow and strengthening it into sharp and strong spikes ripping through the snakes. Orochimaru just managed to dodge the spikes by jumping to the side narrowly avoiding being stabbed by Jiraiya's hair. The attack wasn't finished however and the long white hair followed the snake Sannin until it managed to grab him. Orochimaru cursed loudly when he felt the spikes catch him around the body and holding him in place cutting him all over his body. Jiraiya tried to finish the fight by forming a Rasengan in his hand and aimed it straight at Orochimaru who at the last moment opened his mouth and fired the famous and legendary 'Kusanagi' swords at his incoming opponent. Jiraiya couldn't dodge the sword completely and it cut him deeply into the right arm just above the elbow. Instantly he could feel the venom ,that was on the blade, starting to work and he tried to shrug it off but without success. He wasn't really afraid since Tsunade was there to heal him back to full health later on. Still the poison would slow him down and his right arm was almost useless now.

Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the place and both Orochimaru and Jiraiya turned their head to see what had happened. They saw smoke coming from the direction where Naruto and Kabuto were fighting and Orochimaru scolded knowing that Kabuto didn't use explosive attacks or jutsu's so he figured it was the blonde who had created the explosion. Jiraiya too had come to this conclusion and smirked at Orochimaru.

"Seems like Naruto is dealing with your companion pretty well don't you think?

Orochimaru didn't bother to respond but inwardly he was seething mad. He still had need for Kabuto so it would mean trouble if he allowed Kabuto to get killed. He grinned and disappeared into the ground intent on dealing with Tsunade and the blonde nuisance called Uzumaki Naruto. Jiraiya immediately made his way over to his companions as well hoping he would make it in time. The look on Orochimaru's face told him that things would go very wrong if he let him have his way.

Emerging out of the ground Orochimaru never expected to see his young henchman getting hit by a fully cured Tsunade. Even he winced when he heard Kabuto's jaw shattering in pieces and then crashing into the trees. Orochimaru knew that even Kabuto with his amazing healing factor would have to spend several days resting after such a brutal attack. No matter how much of a healing ability you had, a punch from Tsunade was devastatingly painful and shattered bones instead of breaking them. Orochimaru felt Jiraiya arrive and knew that if he wanted to survive he would have to retreat. Even he was no match for two Sannin, quickly he used 'Shunshin no Jutsu' next to Kabuto's unconscious body and disappeared into the ground leaving Naruto and the rest alone in the clearing. He swore to have his revenge on them as he was furious that he had to flee for the second time in not even two months.

"Shit, he got away! We should have stopped him while we had the chance."

"Let it be Naruto, we'll get another chance don't worry."

"But Ero-sennin, if we got rid of him now we would have one less thing to worry about."

"Be that as it may Naruto, it's too late now to chase him. Who knows where he is by now. Besides we have more important things to do. Alright pervert show me your wounds so I can heal them."

"Thanks Tsunade, the poison from the Kusanagi sword is troublesome to say the least. It's taking all my strength to stay standing right now."

After healing Jiraiya and resting for a bit they decided that they would spend the night there and make their way back to Konoha the next day. Naruto agreed grudgingly since he wanted to be back at Konoha as fast as possible. Jiraiya joked that he missed Anko too much to which he replied that 'of course he wanted to be with his super-sexy girlfriend that he hadn't seen for almost a month'. The smirk on Jiraiya's face disappeared after the word 'super-sexy' and a perverted grin settled on his face. Naturally that was enough for Tsunade to punch his lights out making Naruto laugh loudly at Ero-sennin's foolishness. Little did they know that they were being observed from afar.

"So, should we attack?"

"Don't be foolish Kisame. Naruto is accompanied by two Sannin, attacking him now would be pure suicide. There will be other chances soon so for now we retreat as well."

"Fine, it's a shame they didn't dispose of that traitor Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru is no threat to us at this moment. We'll deal with him when the time comes."

The larger one shrugged and followed his partner into the darkness of the forest. He knew that he couldn't go against his orders, he was strong but even he would have trouble against the genius of the Uchiha clan. He shook his head thinking at how Itachi had slaughtered his entire clan except his little brother. Not even he was that cold and he had done some terrible things in his life as well. Once again shrugging he kept following his partner in silence leaving for their headquarters to retire for the night as well.

The next morning Naruto was awake much earlier than the rest and after bothering Jiraiya enough to get up both of them had a quick spar though Jiraiya didn't hold back any punches this time hoping that Naruto would learn not to wake him this early in the morning. After breakfast they departed again for Konoha using high speed travel, Naruto insisted that they would run as long as possible since he wanted to reach Konoha that night or early the next morning.

"So Gaki, what are you going to do when we arrive at Konoha?"

"First I'll go find Anko-chan and then I'll tell her everything that happened while having some ramen and dango. After that maybe I'll go find the rest of the gang and spend some time together. I wonder if they got stronger over the past month?"

"Anko-chan huh? From what I hear you seem to love her very much."

"Of course I love her! She means everything to me, she's the one who trained me after my graduation. Without her I would still be the dead last and I would probably still be a loud and annoying immature kid."

"Remind me to thank her then. If you were even more annoying than you are now then I shudder to imaging how you were before."

"Thanks a lot Baa-chan."

"What did I tell you about calling me that?"

"Euh not to?"

"Then remember it you damn Gaki!"

Laughter filled the forest as Naruto started evading Tsunade's punches while laughing loudly making Jiraiya and Shizune laugh as well at their silly behavior. Both of them could see that Naruto and Tsunade had accepted each other as precious people and both of them would do anything to make sure the other was safe and happy. Even if that meant to annoy each other once in a while.

In the village everything had been going fairly well, Konoha shinobi were doing mission after mission and the evidence of the attack was almost completely cleared up as well. Of course some minor problems had come up here and there but nothing that couldn't be dealt with. Beginning Genin and Academy students were ordered to clean up the debris from the destroyed buildings while older genin took care of the D-rank missions and even C-rank missions as well. Chuunin and Jounin were being deployed for higher ranked missions, it wouldn't do for Konoha to show any weakness since the other villages like Iwa or Kumo wouldn't hesitate to use the opportunity to promote their village and try to steal some of Konoha's clients. The village depended on the missions they received after all.

When the shinobi weren't busy doing missions they trained hard so that they would be ready if another attack would occur even though they knew such a thing was unlikely. Nevertheless, it was better being safe than sorry. One team took this saying very seriously. Team 8 had been training as hard as possible, they practically lived on the training field leaving only for missions and to return home to get some rest. Anko and Kurenai had been spending the day with Kiba and Shino, who wanted to work on their new techniques for a while.

"Alright that's enough for today. Well done everyone."

"But Anko-sensei we can still go on a little longer."

"No Kiba, your body needs time to rest as well. Training is good but if you push your body too much you'll do more harm than good."

"Anko is right Kiba-kun. You guys are doing great, there's no need to get hasty or impatient."

"But Naruto is getting stronger and stronger by the day. I need to train harder if I want to catch up to him."

"Kiba, listen to me. I understand that you want to get stronger and that's a good thing. But you and Naruto are different people. Naruto is Naruto and you are you. Don't focus on Naruto in your quest on becoming stronger. Become strong for yourself not for someone else. Use the rivalry you have yes but don't let it rule your life."

"So, you're saying that I should quit trying to surpass Naruto. Do you think that I'll never become as strong as Naruto, is that it?"

"No Kiba, that's not what I'm saying. There is no doubt in my mind that you'll be one of the strongest shinobi Konoha will ever have. And I know that Naruto thinks that as well. As a matter of fact I believe that all of you can become the strongest but sometimes we have to admit that there are people in the world that surpass the rest of us. Naruto is such a person but that doesn't stop any of you to train hard and become just as strong."

"Anko-sensei is right Kiba. Naruto is destined for things that are beyond us. We both knew that didn't we? Does that change anything? No it doesn't. we always said that we would become strong so we can protect those we love and the village and not for petty reasons like rivalry."

"I guess you're right Shino but still…."

"I know that it's hard sometime to see others progress at a faster pace than yourself but that's why we have each other. We're a team and we'll get strong together, the four of us will become strong."

Kiba stared at his silent friend for a second before nodding his head. He had been training very hard over the past few months but when he saw the difference between Naruto and himself he couldn't help but feel weak in comparison. While he wouldn't call it jealousy he still felt something when he thought about those feelings. Maybe he had gotten of the right track a bit while focusing on Naruto and the difference between them. Like Anko-sensei said they were two different people and there was no reason for him to feel weak and inadequate, he was strong and would only be getting stronger in time.

"You're right. I shouldn't be fixated on Naruto but I should concentrate on getting stronger for myself and for my dreams. Thanks guys, I guess I needed to hear that."

"No problem Kiba-kun, that's why we're here for. To guide and help you."

"Thank you Kurenai-sensei. Well Shino are you up for finding our third teammate?"

Shino and Kiba bid their goodbye's to Anko and Kurenai and left to find Hinata who was currently helping Sakura and Ino. Seeing their students leave for the day Anko and Kurenai went home as well. They walked through the village greeting their friends and talking to each other. When the passed the main road that started at the front gate Anko couldn't help but look at the horizon to see if Naruto wasn't approaching. She missed him very much, after a year of being together she was used to his presence and company but most of all she missed how he held her in his arms while they slept. She hated waking up alone without him next to her.

"Don't worry Anko, he'll be back soon enough."

"I know but I just miss him. I hope everything went well. And then there's also Akatsuki to worry about."

"I'm sure Naruto-kun is safe, he's with Jiraiya-sama after all. Not many shinobi can stand against one of the Sannin."

"That pervert had better not corrupted Naruto or else I'll introduce him to my newly sharpened kunai."

Kurenai chuckled as Anko went on a tirade about how she would deal with the self proclaimed super-pervert. Sometimes she wondered how Anko came up with those punishments but then she remembered that she was part of the interrogation squad and she had been working with Ibiki for a very long time as well. People who worked with the head of the interrogation section tended to get a little crazy.

Kiba and Shino arrived at the training field where the three girls trained. Every day, after their team training they would train together, helping each other getting stronger and stronger. The results had been showing as both former fan-girls had been complimented by their Jounin sensei several times over the past few weeks. It had been an amazing feeling for Sakura and Ino to be acknowledged by their teacher and fellow shinobi so both of them promised that they would do everything in their power to never disappoint them again.

"Hey girls, how's it going?"

"Hey Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, thing are going great. Sakura has mastered the first of those medical jutsu's and she's now starting on the second one. Ino has been working on her Taijutsu and family jutsu and made some great progress as well."

"Ah Hinata, you're flattering us. We're still weak compared to you and the rest."

"That's not true Ino-san. We all have our specialties and talents so don't sell yourself short. Remember that believing in yourself is just as important as training. You're only weak when you give up and you vowed to never do that."

"Oh I'm not giving up Shino but the truth is that we still have much work to do if we want to catch up to you guys."

"Well, enough training for today. Do you girls want to join me and Shino to get some food? Maybe we can round up the rest of group as well."

"Great idea Kiba, let's go."

The five of them went in search of the rest of the group and after rounding everyone up they made their way to one of the many restaurants in Konoha. The group hadn't seen much of each other lately as all of them were getting some extra training from their Jounin sensei. Shikamaru also had to deal with his Chuunin duty's as well so he was extra busy compared to the rest. They had a great time together and promised to meet again soon and all of them hoped that by then Naruto would be back as well.

* * *

So, how was it? I tried to make the fight realistic and hope that the conversation between Jiraiya and Orochimaru felt somewhat natural. I know some people said that Jiraiya should kill Orochimaru since he wasn't poisoned like in canon but unfortunately Orochimaru still has a purpose in the story so I can't kill him off. Don't worry though he'll get what's coming to him in due time. I liked writing the interaction between Naruto and Tsunade, you'll notice that when they argue Naruto seems to become less serious and act a bit like he used to be. I did this because Naruto can't be serious all the time and he needed someone with who he can act like that. Plus it brings a little laughter into the story.

Anyway thanks for waiting for this chapter and thanks for reading. I hope to see you all next week for the next chapter in this story. See you all on Sunday 27th of July. Ja ne.


	26. Chapter 26:Time for a change

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Hello everybody and welcome back to a new chapter of this story. First of all I liked to thank each of you. Why? Because this week this story passed its 300K hit and almost its 1000th review. I can't believe this story would get such numbers but I'm not complaining lol. When I started this story I never thought it would become such a hobby of mine, I really enjoy writing this story even though my life is really hectic right now.

Thursday I'm leaving for London where I'll follow an intense training program for my job (that's right I graduated and already found a job). This training will take 3 months so I'm really nervous and curious to see how it will go. Unfortunately, this reduces my time to write and work on my chapters this week and maybe even the week after that. I'll try to write as much as possible but this training is crucial from my future job so I can't fool around too much either.

No worries however this story will continue until the very end. I'm still working on some ideas so I can leave the original storyline. It's proving to be much harder that I thought so any ideas you might have let me know okay?

Anyway enough with the talking let's read the chapter. Enjoy.

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Chapter 26: Time for a change

For the guards at the front gate of Konoha time seemed to pass much slower than usual, to them morning couldn't come fast enough. Guarding the gate during night and early morning was a boring job since they almost never saw anyone or nothing happened that could give them some excitement. Guard duty during the day was an entirely different matter, they had to check the papers of people coming through, investigate and check cargo so nothing harmful could make it into the village, this at least made time go by fast.

"Man, I really hate the nightshifts. There's nothing to do."

"Stop it already. You've been at it for hours already, I don't like it anymore than you do but it's our duty."

Izumo and Kotetsu were midlevel Chuunin who had been friends ever since they started at the Academy together. They had about the same dreams, the same hobbies and even liked the same women (which could lead to trouble sometimes) and were the perfect team. They liked working together and had been doing so for years. During the invasion they had shown some remarkable skills so they would likely be taking the Jounin exams next year or so. This was something they both had dreaming about so they worked hard to reach their goal. But for now they were Chuunin and it was their job to guard the gate.

"What time is it?"

"Five minutes later than the last time you asked me."

"I'm bored."

"For the love of God, stop your whining."

"……"

"Thank you."

"Hey Kotetsu?"

"Yeah?"

"I really am bored, you know?"

"ARGH!"

Kotetsu was about to hit his long time friend on the head for his constant nagging but just then he noticed something moving at the horizon. Izumo who had been teasing his friend (to pass time and because he liked it) was ready to defend himself but stopped in his tracks as well when he saw his friend looking away from him. Turning his head he saw something as well but because of the distance he wasn't sure what it was. Straining his eyes he thought he could make out four people but he was unable to recognize them. Whoever they might be they were travelling at high speed and would be there in a few seconds.

"Get ready, we haven't heard about any shinobi coming back from missions at this time."

They nodded and prepared themselves for any possible problems. They had their hands on a kunai, ready to intercept the possible hostile travelers. When the four stopped right in front of them they were flabbergasted. Their stood two of the three Sannin, the Yondaime's son and Tsunade's apprentice waiting to get permission to enter the village.

"Yo, can we go in? or do you need to see our papers."

"O-off course not, Jiraiya-sama. Please excuse us."

"Yeesh Ero-sennin, no need to scare them like that. Don't worry guys, it's just us. We went to get Baa-chan here so she could be the Godaime Hokage."

Kotetsu and Izumo almost lost it when Naruto called one of the Sannin a pervert but when they heard him call Tsunade an old lady they were sure that things would get ugly. To their surprise Tsunade just bonked him on the head and yelled at him for calling her that. Soon Jiraiya joined in and yelled at Naruto that he needed to show him some respect while Shizune tried her best to calm everyone down. Seeing the argument taking place both Izumo and Kotetsu couldn't hold in their laughter anymore and just started laughing loudly.

"Well, it seems that things will get interesting again now that you're back Naruto."

"Yeah, things have been way to calm around here. We need another of your pranks, Naruto."

Naruto just gave a wicked smile making Tsunade groan loudly. She could really do without all the pranks Naruto could come up with. Naruto reassured her that he wouldn't pull any pranks anytime soon since he would be too busy training but that she shouldn't let her guard down. He could find some spare time if he really wanted. After talking for a few minutes they left Kotetsu and Izumo and entered the village. Naruto immediately left the others saying he wanted to surprise Anko as he was sure she was still sleeping at this early hour. Tsunade ordered him to come and see her later that day as she wanted to discuss several things with him. He just nodded and waved goodbye before using 'Shunshin no Jutsu' disappearing.

Naruto made his way over to Anko's place after getting something for breakfast. He wanted to surprise his girlfriend with a nice breakfast in bed knowing she would be happy to have him back. He quietly opened the door and put his belongings in the hallway before sneaking into the living room. Passing the kitchen he took the necessary items like a cup, a knife and a plate before slowly continuing his way to the bedroom. Peeking inside he saw the woman he loved sleeping soundly with the covers wrapped around her and her arms were holding his pillow against her body. He looked at her for a moment and smiled, he wished he had a camera right now as she looked absolutely adorable. He made his way over to the bed and sat down next to her, gently he grabbed a lock of hair and put it behind her ear. He bend down and gave her a little kiss on the cheek and smiled when she seemed to enjoy it. He started whispering in her ear so she would wake up.

"Hmm, Naruto-kun five more minutes." He chuckled when he heard her protest and continued his whispering. Anko was enjoying her sleep so she didn't want to wake up so early so when her Naruto-kun started to wake her up she was a little cranky. Just then she realized that Naruto had been away on a mission for some time now and that if he was here whispering in her ear that meant he was back. Faster than ever she opened her eyes and turned her head. When she looked into the soft blue eyes of her lover she jumped up and grabbed him in a fierce hug.

"Naruto-kun you're back. I missed you so much." Anko exclaimed before she started to kiss him.

For the next minutes no words were spoken and the world could have exploded there and then but neither Anko nor Naruto would have noticed as they were kissing and hugging like their lives depended on it. After they had confirmed how much they had missed each other Naruto just held her in his arms while Anko started talking about the things that had happened in the time he was gone. She enjoyed being in his arms again and wasn't about to leave the comfortable warmth she had missed so much. Naruto listened quietly enjoying the sound of her voice and the feeling of having her near him. When she was finished talking she asked him about his journey with Jiraiya and if he was successful in finding Tsunade-sama.

"Things went great, I learned some new techniques and Baa-chan agreed to become the Godaime Hokage."

"….Baa-chan?"

"Yeah you know Tsunade-Baachan. I call her that because she's old and I know it irritates her." He said while grinning.

"Only you would call one of the legendary Sannin 'Baa-chan' Naruto-kun."

"If you say so, but you know? She's a great person even though she's a little moody sometimes."

Anko laughed at Naruto's face when he said that, she was sure that the two of them had already bonded on a certain level. Naruto had the ability to influence people like that and once they saw the real Naruto they would have trouble not liking him. They stayed in bed for another hour talking and enjoying each other's presence before they got up so they could get ready for the day. Anko had been helping out with Team 8's training and she had to be at the training grounds in half an hour. Off course Naruto would join her as he wanted to see his friends as well, when he heard just how much they had trained he was anxious to see the results. They walked through the village chatting away and before they knew they had arrived at the training grounds, it seemed that they still had some time left as they were the first there. Naruto sat down against a tree and Anko installed her between his leg leaning against his chest.

Kurenai was hurrying to the training grounds, she had woken up a bit later than usual so she had to hurry to make it on time. She did find it strange that Anko hadn't passed by to come and get her like she usually did but thought nothing of it. Maybe she had a mission or something like that. When she finally reached the grounds she smiled brightly at the sight before her. Now she knew why Anko hadn't stopped by her house. Seeing the two of them sitting there, looking content and happy she felt somewhat jealous of Anko. Oh she wasn't interested in Naruto but rather she wished that her own love live would be like that. All she had was flirting with Asuma but neither of them made any move to go beyond that, maybe it was time to be more aggressive like Anko said. If Asuma didn't have the balls to make the first move then she will do it for him. Approaching them she greeted Naruto with a 'welcome back' and a 'we missed you' before she started to ask how things went. She wasn't really surprised to hear that he had succeeded in his mission as he had a knack for doing what others deemed impossible. A little bark interrupted her next question and she turned around only to see the rest of her team arrive as well.

"Naruto, when did you get back?"

"Just this morning Kiba. How have things been while I was away?"

"Things went great. We did several C-ranked missions and we all got a lot stronger. I can't let you get too much ahead of me, you know?"

"You all look a lot stronger that's for sure. Then again, I got stronger as well."

"Hello Naruto-kun, welcome back. We missed you, the team wasn't the same without you."

"Thanks Hinata-chan, I'm glad to be back too. Travelling with a Sannin isn't that much fun. Sure the training is great but living with a pervert like Ero-sennin day after day isn't that great. Don't even get me started on Tsunade-Baachan."

"You call one of the legendary Sannin Ero-sennin and the other Tsunade-Baachan? Man, you have some big ones." Kiba said jokingly.

"Big ones?"

"Never mind that Naruto, what kind of training did you do?" Kurenai said while glaring at Kiba for his use of words.

Naruto told them how he sparred every day with a Kage Bunshin of Jiraiya and how he got his ass handed to him every single time. He also told about the new technique he was creating although he refused to give any details. He didn't tell about the things he and Tsunade discussed but did tell them the general story so they would know what happened. He was about to tell them about the encounter with Orochimaru and Kabuto when a Chuunin appeared.

"Namikaze Naruto, the Hokage requires your presence and that of your team." And with that he disappeared again.

"Ah man, what is it now? Well, guess there's no helping it. Let's go."

When the Hokage tower came into view Team 8 saw that they weren't the only ones to be summoned as Team 10, Team 7 (at the moment only Sakura) and Team Gai were arriving as well. The secretary told them to go right in and Naruto opened the door. He had missed the old man as well and couldn't wait to tell him about the mission. Stepping right into the office he wasted no time and greeted the man he considered his grandfather.

"Ji-chan, what's up?" Making everyone smile at the familiarity between the two.

"Welcome back Naruto and if you sit down we'll get right to business." The elderly Hokage said while putting his pipe on his desk. Everybody just sat down and waited for the Hokage to start. "We'll start in a moment as we aren't fully complete yet."

A few seconds later and the door the office opened again making all those present turn their heads. They all sighed when they saw it was only Jiraiya and when he noticed the reactions he let out a tirade about showing a little more respect. It was the next person who earned the most stares and jaws falling to the ground. Tsunade had walked in right after Jiraiya and when she noticed the stares (especially from the males) she felt a little uncomfortable. Fortunately she could count on Naruto to lighten the atmosphere.

"Baa-chan, Shizune-neechan how did you like the village?" Naruto asked them.

Absolute silence. Then several things happened all at once. Jiraiya started wailing that Tsunade was shown more respect that him, Shizune greeted everyone, Kakashi looked back down and continued reading in his book, TenTen was about to let out a freakish fan-girl scream at seeing her idol and the rest was staring at Naruto for his blatant disrespect for Tsunade while said one shot forward intent on bonking Naruto on the head once more. Naruto grinned when he saw Tsunade's right fist coming straight at him and at the last moment he ducked right under it causing her to hit nothing but air.

"Ha, you missARGH" While she had missed with her right nothing stopped her from using a follow up punch with her left, right? So when she saw Naruto duck and grin she just used her left arm to punch him straight in the gut. Naruto fell down like a sack of potatoes and started coughing. When he regained he breath he stood up and started glaring at Tsunade.

"What the hell is wrong with you Baa-chan? You could have killed me with that punch?"

"Yeah I know, too bad it didn't work. Anyway that'll teach you to think you can outsmart a Sannin at your level. You're nothing but a brat."

"I may be a brat now but I promise you that one day I'll make you eat those words Baa-chan."

Both of them were glaring at each other unaware that the others in the room where staring in disbelief at the two of them. Here was one of the legendary Sannin arguing with a rookie Chuunin like they had known each other their whole lives. The Sandaime was sporting a million watt smile when he saw his former student act like that, he knew he had made the right decision when he send Naruto to get her. Just like so many people before her Naruto had succeeded in breaking through the wall she had built around her heart after the death of Dan and Nawaki. Seeing her acting freely and happy with Naruto warmed his heart like the sun on a hot summer day.

"Euh Naruto-kun, how about you introduce everybody?" Sandaime said trying to get back some order in his office though he did enjoy the chaos at the moment. It was such a difference with the usual atmosphere.

"Good idea Ji-chan. Alright everyone this is Shizune-neechan, she is a great medic-nin and is the apprentice of Tsunade-Baachan here." Tsunade glared at him for calling her old again. "who's one of the legendary Sannin together with Ero-sennin and Snake-face."

Naruto then introduced the other to them and let them tell something about themselves as well. Finally he came to the last person, Anko.

"This is Anko-chan, she's my Sensei, my best friend and my future wife." Naruto said looking at her with loving eyes. Tsunade looked at Anko and stepped forward before she grasped Anko's hands and gave them a big squeeze.

"So, you're the Anko I heard so much about?" she asked earning a nod in reply. Tsunade then surprised her when she gave her a big hug that lasted a few seconds. "Thank you. Naruto told me that if it wasn't for your training and help he would still be the loud and attention seeking brat he used to be. Seeing how annoying he is now I can only imagine what that must have been like." Anko could only give a small 'it was nothing' in reply too shocked to say anything else. The others in the room just laughed loudly at Tsunade's comment.

"What the hell Baa-chan? What is that supposed to mean." Naruto yelled loudly.

"Call me old one more time Gaki and I swear you and your team will be doing D-rank mission for the rest of the year."

This made Kiba, Shino and Hinata look at each other before they nodded and jumped Naruto trying to stop him from calling her old again. They grabbed him and told him that there would be hell to pay if they were forced to do D-rank missions again because of him. Naruto didn't want his teammates to be mad at him so he refrained from answering calming Team 8 down.

"All right everyone let's get back on track here. First of all Naruto, congratulations on completing your first S-ranked mission. I heard about how Orochimaru and Kabuto showed up, well done." Sandaime said praising Naruto for a job well done. The rest of the genin and Sensei's were congratulating Naruto as well except one person. She grabbed Naruto by the collar and glared at him.

"Naruto, you didn't say anything about fighting Orochimaru. When where you going to tell me?" Anko said in a voice that made everyone back up a little. Naruto gulped and tried to calm her down.

"Anko-chan, I was going to tell you I swear but then that Chuunin arrived telling us that we needed to come here. Besides I didn't fight Orochimaru this time, Ero-sennin did."

"You better not be lying to me Naruto-kun." She said softly more afraid of what could happen if he fought Orochimaru again.

"Relax Anko, he's telling the truth. I fought Orochimaru while he and Shizune took care of that Kabuto guy." Jiraiya said trying to calm her down.

Anko nodded before she grabbed Naruto in a fierce hug whispering that she was sorry for overreacting. Naruto happily returned the hug before he sat back down knowing that the Sandaime wanted to get this meeting back on track.

"Now that everyone has calmed down again let me explain why you are here." Sandaime said looking at them from behind his desk. Everyone knew that the time of playing around was over, this was the leader of the village sitting there and not the friendly old man of a few minutes ago.

"As you all have noticed your Jounin Sensei's have been giving you a much harder training schedule than before. This was done on my orders, I have decided that the twelve of you will be a special unit trained to deal with a huge threat to our village and maybe even the whole shinobi world. What I'm about to tell you is a S-ranked secret that will result in your death if you tell anyone about it, is that absolutely clear?" The tone of his voice told them all that there would be no exception to this rule and they all nodded their understanding.

"Very good. Now let me tell you about the reason for this special unit. Just after the invasion Jiraiya told me about an organization called 'Akatsuki'. This organization consist out of nine S-ranked Shinobi, one of which is none other than Uchiha Itachi. I'm sure you all realize the danger such an organization represents. We don't know their precise goal or purpose but what we do know is that they are strong and dangerous. Yes Sakura, do you have a question?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt Hokage-sama but I wanted to know how Sasuke is doing?"

"Tsunade assured me that Sasuke would be fine when she had a look at him this morning. He should wake up in a few hours but I want to warn you all. Sasuke has suffered a huge mental trauma and will likely need some time to recuperate."

"What happened to Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Ah yes, you don't know about that incident yet. A few weeks after you left Uchiha Itachi showed up in the village for an unknown reason. When Sasuke found out that his brother was here he immediately attacked him. Like you can imagine Sasuke lost and suffered a mental attack from his brother putting him in a coma until Tsunade healed him this morning." Sandaime explained.

"While I understand that he wants to defeat his brother, attacking him like that is pure idiocy. There's no way he could defeat a S-ranked Nukenin at his level. I hope he's learned his lesson and that maybe he will change his attitude a bit." Naruto sighed.

"Naruto, correct me if I'm wrong but it sounded like you were worried about Sasuke? I don't understand why you would care about him, Sasuke isn't a good friend of us. As a matter of fact he considers us below him and doesn't hesitate to insult us whenever he can." Chouji said. While he didn't hate Sasuke he didn't like him either.

"That may be true Chouji but you have to understand where I'm coming from. Unlike you all Sasuke and I grew up having no parents or family, nobody to say 'good morning' to or asking how your day was when you got home from school. When you come home day after day with nobody waiting for you things get very lonely very fast. It's something that you can't really understand if you haven't been in that situation yourself. It hurts and it consumes you if you're not careful, if I didn't have Ji-chan when I was younger I don't know if I would still be alive right now." Naruto said solemnly.

"Naruto is right, Sasuke has many faults but some of them are caused by the fact that he suffered a trauma the night his whole clan was slaughtered by his brother. I'm not excusing his behavior towards others but an event like that leaves a mark on a young child." Sandaime finished. The rest of the genin nodded understanding that this was a subject that would have to be discussed another time. "We keep getting off track so no more question until I'm finished. To deal with Akatsuki we need shinobi specially trained as there are not many who can go against those kind of enemies and get out alive. So I'm assigning you all a S-rank mission that will last until Akatsuki is defeated, this means that the number of normal missions that you do will go down a bit and that you'll focus on training and getting stronger."

It took another hour before the meeting was over and basically it had been decided that the group would focus on training either in group or individual just like they had been doing all along. After that everyone was dismissed except Naruto and Anko. Naruto and the rest agreed to meet up later and get some dinner or if they were still allowed maybe they would visit Sasuke who would have to spend a few days for observation in the hospital. When the group had left Sandaime took his pipe and puffed a few time enjoying the feel of the tobacco in his lungs. He knew it was bad for his health but he was an old man so he was allowed some pleasure he mused.

"So, according to Tsunade here you have some interesting ideas for Konoha. She didn't want to tell me anymore without you around so please Naruto, would you explain them to me?" Sandaime asked interested. He was always open to new ideas and besides he wouldn't be Hokage much longer now that Tsunade was here.

"Before I explain them, I have a question as well. When will Baa-chan take over?" Naruto asked pointing at Tsunade.

"We talked about it this morning and decided that I will resign at the end of the month. In other words in about eight days, we'll announce it to the council tomorrow and to the village the day after tomorrow." Sandaime said while leaning back in his chair.

"Do you expect any problems?" Naruto asked curious.

"I foresee no problems with the council as Tsunade is a highly respected kunoichi and she has proven her worth several time over during the war. Same for the village, a lot of people owe their life or the life of a loved one to Tsunade be it directly or indirectly." Sandaime said after thinking a second. "Why do you want to know?"

"Just curious I guess." Naruto shrugged. "Alright about my ideas, like I said to Tsunade-Baa-chan and Ero-sennin before, I came up with them some time ago so some of them might be impossible or just plain stupid so let me know."

Naruto started to explain his ideas for the academy and the future students and genin as well. Sandaime listened carefully and had to admit that some of the things Naruto said made sense. Teaching the young academy students teamwork while being at the academy would allow the Jounin Sensei to focus on training later on. The idea of making them work together on the D-rank missions had merit too since those were made especially to encourage teamwork.

"So you're saying that if we make them work together as academy students, we would be able to see who works well with who making it easier to form the teams later on." Sandaime asked even though he had understood the concept straight away. He did wanted to hear how Naruto would sell his idea to him, after all this was something he would have bring in front of the council as well. He may be the Hokage but even he didn't have the power to just change everything if he felt like it.

"Exactly, let me give you an example. In the current system, the last of the class and the rookie of the year are usually put together to balance out the teams right?" earning a nod from the Sandaime he continued. "Imagine for a second that I had been put on Team 7 with Sasuke, what would have happened in your opinion?"

"Well, the teamwork would have been awful that's for sure. Sasuke seems to have a dislike of you as you were classified as a weakling, he would have thought you would slow him down and he probably would have ignored or taunted you. And you wouldn't be able to endure his taunting and would have risen to his provocations all the time making it even harder to work together. Perhaps in time the two of you would learn to work together but it would take a lot more time." Sandaime said after being silent for a minute.

"That's what I thought as well. We would be so focused on our differences that teamwork would be next to impossible except on life-threatening moments. Not only would we suffer from this but also our third teammate as well. Take a look at Team 8, their teamwork is some of the best I've seen, they train together and help each other get stronger and better. That's because they're not only teammates but also friends who want to help the other reach their dreams." Naruto finished his explanations.

"Okay I'm with you so far Naruto. What you propose is possible but it would take some time to see the results of this new system and that's the problem. What if we change everything and then it turns out it doesn't work? We would have lost a lot of time and resources." Sandaime said. He liked the idea but he had to be realistic as well, the council was bound to bring up that argument as well. Naruto nodded knowing that time and money always were a major pain in the behind. Surprisingly it was Tsunade who came up with the solution.

"But what if we introduce the system over several years? What if we let the last year of the academy form teams and let them do a set number of D-rank missions a week? For example 3 missions a week for each team, that way we can monitor the change from close by and we don't have to change everything all at once." She said explaining her solution.

"That's not a bad idea, Tsunade. That might be possible, yes I believe that's the best course of action. We'll explain it to the council after you've been appointed as Hokage." Sandaime said happy that they had found some sort of solution to the problem. "what else did you have in mind, Naruto?"

"Okay, my next idea is about the council itself. The problem is that I don't really know how the council works and what its limitations are." Naruto said.

"Well the council is made up out of two parts. One is the Shinobi council whose job is to help the Hokage run the shinobi part of the village. This means that they have a say in what happens and that they have a certain rights and that those in the council have several privileges as well. Before the council had less power than now but when I came out of retirement after the Kyuubi attack I had some much work that I allowed to council more power and say in the village. Unfortunately when things calmed down again they were unwilling to return to their previous level of power and I was unable to force them. The Shinobi council exits out of the major clan heads and my advisors, and while it pains me greatly to say this some of them are more focused on their own power instead on the good of the village." Sandaime said while smoking his pipe.

"What about the other part of the council?" Naruto asked interested. This was an unique chance to learn about how the village worked so he listened closely. Anko too was listening after all she would be the wife of the Hokage one day so best if she knew how things worked as well.

"The other part is the village council and they are sometimes a bigger pain in the butt than the Shinobi council. The village council is responsible for all things that are not related to shinobi matters. For example they take care of complaints or problems with housing, shops and stuff like that. Again they seemed to think that they have a right to stick their noses into things that don't relate to them and try to get more power so they can influence things in the village. The biggest problem is that the Hokage has to deal with every problem no matter how small or insignificant. This takes a lot of paperwork so I lose precious time that I could be using otherwise." Sandaime said smiling a bit at Tsunade's face which showed that she regretted coming back to the village to become the Hokage.

"Gaki, your idea better work because there's no way I'm dealing with all this." Tsunade said glaring at Naruto.

"That depends on what the answer will be to my next question." Naruto said calmly. "Ji-chan, when Baa-chan here becomes Hokage can she change things or is everything set in stone, about the council I mean?"

"Well, she can't disband the council if that's what you're asking but she can make some changes yes. Off course that will depend on how big and what kind of changes." He answered.

"Could she appoint a head of each council, someone who's in charge and who only answers to the Hokage?" Naruto asked?

"I think that might be possible if you can get the councils agreement, which would be very difficult I'm afraid." Sandaime answered after thinking for several minutes. "It would have to be someone they all trust and whose strong enough not to get influenced by them."

"So if Tsunade-Baa-chan asked you to be head of the Shinobi part and the council agreed would you accept?" Naruto asked innocently.

Tsunade grinned, if Sarutobi-Sensei was there to help her than she could deal with those councils. Sarutobi was a respected shinobi and had great knowledge about anything shinobi related after years of being Hokage. He wouldn't be swayed or influenced by pushy members of either council and she knew that he would always had the good of the village in mind. If he accepted that would mean one less thing to worry about.

Sarutobi however was a bit lost, on one hand he looked forward to his retirement after years of politics and the paperwork that came with it but on the other he did want to help out Tsunade and help her run the village. He looked at the innocent look on Naruto and frowned, the little jerk had managed to push him into a corner with his ideas. He sighed as he made the decision even when it was obvious that he didn't need to think about it.

"Naruto, you should go into politics with that poker face of yours. You pushed me into a corner knowing what my answer would be without me realizing it." Sandaime said glaring at his adoptive grandson."Just when I thought I was free of all that you come up with something like this."

"Who, me? Nonsense Ji-chan, it was just a question. I don't want you to feel obligated to accept this position." Naruto said smirking at him and winked at Tsunade who grinned back.

"Yeah right."Sandaime snorted. "but fine, yes I believe I would accept such a position. I was going to offer my expertise and knowledge to Tsunade anyway."

Naruto than explained how he wanted Hideki as the head of the civilian part of the council knowing that the man was well liked and respected by the villagers. Sandaime agreed that Hideki would do an excellent job if they could convince him to accept the position. Naruto said that it would be their job to convince them as he was an old friend of Sandaime. They decided that these ideas were enough for the time being as this would take a lot of time and effort to make this happen. Any other ideas were put on hold and Naruto and Anko were dismissed from the Hokage's office. When Sandaime looked out the window he saw them laughing and joking and a smile grew on his face.

"He's an amazing person isn't he Sarutobi-Sensei?" Tsunade asked seeing the smile on his face.

"Indeed. I remember Minato saying that his child was destined for great things and not once have I doubted his words." Sandaime said looking at the portrait of the Yondaime.

"Well, guess I'm off to the hospital as well, there's this Lee kid who need to be looked at." Tsunade said sighing.

"Ah yes Lee-kun, he got severely hurt when he fought during the preliminary's of the Chuunin exam. If there is anyone who can heal him it's you Tsunade." Sandaime said recalling the vicious fight between Lee and Gaara.

Anko and Naruto joined the rest of the gang at the usual place to have dinner and talk about their past few weeks. Naruto was especially interested in hearing the fight between Sasuke and his brother but was a bit disappointed when he heard the details from Kakashi-Sensei. He had hoped to find out more about Itachi seeing as he was a target of him and the organization called Akatsuki. Kakashi did tell him a bit about Itachi from when they worked together in Anbu but even then he didn't found out much. Suddenly Gai dropped in with Lee, both smiling like Christmas would come twice in a year and when they asked what was going on Gai told him that Tsunade had examined Lee and that she was fairly confident that she could cure him. Naruto and the rest were very glad for their friend knowing that being a shinobi meant everything to him and told him that they would support him all the way. Off course this made Lee and Gai yell out about the youthfulness of their friends earning glares from the other customers in the restaurant.

"Kurenai-Sensei, what do you have planned for the new training schedule?" Hinata asked. She had been working very hard on her Taijutsu and her medical skills ever since the invasion but she still needed to get stronger and still had so much to learn.

"Well, the five of us have decided that we'll do group training from time to time as well as individual training. For example, I'll take care of Genjutsu training while Kakashi will do Jutsu training, Gai will take care of Taijutsu. That leaves Anko and Asuma, who will be available for individual training or questions you might have." Kurenai said smiling at how every genin listened closely.

"Ah Hinata-chan that reminds me. You're learning medical jutsu right?" Naruto asked to which Hinata simply nodded. "Well, while we were heading to Konoha, Tsunade-Baa-chan told me that she wanted to start a program to train Medic-nin. I don't know any of the details but if you're interested you should ask her about it."

Hinata immediately looked at Sakura and Ino who nodded as well saying that they would go first thing in the morning. The three of them were very interested in becoming Medic-Nin though Ino just wanted to learn enough to be able to help her team. Sakura and Hinata however wanted to become full pledged Medic-Nin if that was possible so being taught by Tsunade herself was a dream for them. Naruto grinned when he saw the determination on their faces knowing that Tsunade would have her hands full with the three of them. He was glad the girls had found a way to realize their goals and in the end it would help them all out if they had several people who could heal them if they got injured. It seemed the future would be filled with training and battles but he knew that he had his friends at his side so he was sure that things would be alright as long as they fought together.

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter. Not a lot of action but these chapters are necessary to explain the changes Konoha will be having when Tsunade becomes the Godaime Hokage. I'll try to put in some action packed missions in the following chapters to compensate. Like I said above Thursday I'm leaving for London so I don't have time to work on a chapter for next week. So I decided to put the release for next week on hold until I can be sure to have the chapter completely ready.

I don't want to make empty promises and then disappoint everybody by not releasing the chapter. So NO CHAPTER NEXT WEEK but in two weeks.

NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE RELEASED ON SUNDAY 10TH OF AUGUST. See you guys then.


	27. Chapter 27: Decisions and plans

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everybody and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I'm glad to be able to give you this next chapter on time like promised. Training in London for my new job has been a lot of fun and I'm truly enjoying myself for the moment. London is a great city and my colleagues are really nice people as well, something for which I'm very glad. There's only one downside to this. It cuts away at my writing time so much that I can't write a whole chapter in one week (or at least not a decent chapter).

So I made the decision to release the chapters every two weeks until things calm down a bit. I prefer delivering a chapter with quality instead of a rushed chapter that will disappoint not only my readers but also myself. I hope I made the right decision and that everyone understands the reasons for this.

This chapter has been somewhat difficult to write because I need to fill in a lot of information without making it boring as hell. So I hope I did a good job but I'm sure people will let me know like always. Once again thank you for reading my story and hopefully you'll continue to read and enjoy it.

I give you chapter 27. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 27: Decisions and plans

While Naruto and the rest of the genin and Jounin Sensei were enjoying a lovely meal two Sannin and a Hokage were in fierce discussion about a blonde shinobi who had influenced their lives so much. As Akatsuki would be coming for Naruto they all agreed that his training would have to be on a whole different level, it wouldn't be enough for Naruto to just follow regular training he needed specialized training and sparring against stronger opponents. This is why they were arguing about what to do for the young Chuunin.

"I want to take him on a journey with me. That way he'll be off the radar and the village wouldn't have to deal with an attack so soon after the invasion, if they decide to come after him." Jiraiya argued with both Tsunade and the Sandaime.

"I understand what you mean Jiraiya but I don't think Naruto will agree with that plan. He was already hesitating to leave the village in search of Tsunade here. He would feel responsible for leaving the village in time of need. And frankly the village could use any available shinobi at the moment." Sandaime answered.

"How long would you take him away, Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked. She could see that both men had a point. One on one training with Jiraiya would help Naruto getting stronger but she wasn't sure Naruto would agree with leaving the village as well.

"Three years is all I need. In three years I'll make him strong enough to deal with Akatsuki." Jiraiya said with confidence.

"You're saying that in three years time Naruto would be strong enough to deal with S-ranked Nukenin? Isn't that a bit optimistic?" Sandaime said curious. He knew that Naruto was strong but three years wasn't that long.

"Not at all, Naruto is the type who learns while doing things. On this journey I'll introduce him to my techniques and to my spy network, there's no doubt in my mind that he can do it." Jiraiya said unsealing some sake much to Tsunade's pleasure."

"Wait a minute, you're intending to make Naruto your heir? Are you serious?" Sandaime asked perplexed shocking Tsunade as well.

"Absolutely, there is no one better than Naruto. He's the one who will inherit my legacy as well as his dad's." Jiraiya said filling Tsunade's and Sandaime's sake saucer.

"Still, three years is a long time to be away from the village." Tsunade said.

"Very well Jiraiya, if you're sure about this I guess the choice is up to Naruto. But let me make one thing absolutely clear. You'll be the one who'll explain all of this to Anko because I can assure you that she won't like it." Sandaime said smirking at the way Jiraiya's face changed from happy to absolutely terrified. He could only imagine how she would react to this plan.

"You can't be serious! She'll kill me for sure." Jiraiya said nervously.

"Good luck Jiraiya , you'll need it." Tsunade said while laughing at Jiraiya's misfortune.

"When do you want to leave on this trip?" Sandaime asked.

"Well, I want to ensure everything go smoothly so I'll go and check up on my contacts. So let's say I'll be back in six months, we'll leave after that." Jiraiya said after thinking for a while.

The rest of the evening was spend with telling stories and remembering the old days while enjoying some fine sake. It had been years since teacher and students had been reunited and each of them had a lot to tell. They said their goodbye's around midnight knowing that starting tomorrow things would change in Konoha and that they would need to be rested and ready. Of course Tsunade had to punch Jiraiya in the face after he made a lewd remark about them spending the night together but other than that things went great.

Naruto woke up feeling very refreshed and well rested, he and Anko had returned straight home after spending the evening with their friends wanting to spend some time together. They hadn't seen each other in weeks and both of them had missed the other greatly. Now that he was back Naruto would be sure to spend as much time as possible with his girlfriend. Today however he would be very busy with team training in the morning and after that he would have to start his Chuunin duty's as well. Shikamaru had told him that he had been doing troublesome things ever since he became a Chuunin as well. Naruto wasn't looking forward to some of those tasks, standing guard at the gate didn't look much fun or filling in papers for some unimportant happening wasn't his cup of tea either. He hoped to convince the Sandaime that he needed time to prepare and train so doing Chuunin stuff would stop him from advancing fast. Sighing he looked at Anko's sleeping face and snuggled back into her embrace eager to get some more minutes of her feeling against his body.

Anko was very comfortable lying in her bed with what she knew was her boyfriend in her arms. She loved the feeling of having him snuggle up to her in the morning. This was one of the things she missed the most when he was gone. She hated waking up alone in the morning, so when Naruto got back she was very relieved he was back where he belonged. She opened her eyes only to see Naruto staring at her with a smile on his face.

"Good morning Anko-chan, I missed having you next to me the past few weeks." Naruto said softly knowing Anko preferred waking up in silence.

Anko nodded before she kissed him soundly on the lips greeting him as well. She pulled him closer and continued kissing him and would have until late in the morning but she knew that they had team training this morning so they had to get up. Groaning she separated from him and sat up pouted slightly earning a chuckle from Naruto. He knew what she was thinking and silently he agreed as well, he wouldn't mind spending the morning in bed but it would have to wait until next time. He got out of bed and walked to the closet and grabbed his fresh clothes before going to the bathroom. Anko watched her boyfriend parade around in nothing but his boxers and grinned, just because they couldn't stay in bed didn't mean she couldn't have some fun in the shower. She raced after him and jumped in the shower surprising Naruto before she grabbed him and started kissing him again. Naruto, while surprised when she jumped into the shower didn't complain and eagerly kissed her back.

After breakfast they made her way over to Kurenai's house after Anko told Naruto that she had gotten used to picking her up in the morning. When they saw Kurenai waiting outside they hurried and greeted her a good morning. Kurenai greeted them back and while she and Anko started talking Naruto was deep in thought about training and the jutsu he was developing for several weeks now. He had made some great progress but it still wasn't to the point that Naruto wanted. If he could pull this off he would have a jutsu capable of rivaling the Rasengan. He was giddy at the thought of having such a jutsu and couldn't wait to see it in action. His thoughts were interrupted when they arrived at the training grounds and seeing the rest of the gang waiting for them. Surprisingly even Kakashi was on time but that could have been because they had told him to meet several hours earlier than the normal hour. This seemed to be the only way to get him to be on time.

"Ah now that you're here we can start." Kakashi said from behind his orange book. He seemed not to notice the killing intent Anko and Kurenai send his for reading such a book in front of them. That or he ignored it completely.

"Alright like we said last night each of us will take care of one field of training. Training will start with physical exercise with Gai, then we'll have one group with Kurenai for Genjutsu and the other group with Kakashi for Ninjutsu training. After switching between groups we'll have sparring matches between all of you to finish morning training, the afternoon training will be individual training if there aren't missions to complete. " Asuma said.

"YOSH, I'LL MAKE SURE ALL OF OUR STUDENTS WILL BE FULL OF YOUTHFULLNESS. IF I CAN'T FULLFILL THAT PROMISE I'LL RUN A THOUSAND LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS." Gai exclaimed loudly. Lee fully agreed that he would help his friends with their youthfulness even though he couldn't participate right now before he and Gai went off on another one of their crazy rants. After Anko had thrown several kunai at them they had calmed down enough to start the exercises.

Three hours later ten genin and two chuunin crashed down on the ground after a grueling training session with Gai. He had them run laps, sit-ups, pushups, squats and every other exercise he could remember. Even Naruto who had more stamina than all the rest was feeling exhausted, he was sure his muscles would hurt tomorrow and wasn't looking forward to the exercises the next day. But he knew that Gai was an expert on these kind of things and it would help him get stronger. The others as well were feeling the burn of their muscles after such a hard training but none of them really complained. They knew what was on stake and knew that they would benefit greatly from Gai's crazy training.

Kurenai then took half of them with her so she could start on her lecture and teaching of Genjutsu. None of the genin really had any Genjutsu in their repertoire so she could start from the very beginning which was fine by her. She preferred starting from zero as that would allow her to use her own methods of teaching. She had never liked how the academy seemed to teach Genjutsu, most genin thought that Genjutsu was just some fancy art especially used by women. Kurenai disagreed greatly with this, to her Genjutsu was more than some fancy illusion used to distract an enemy. Genjutsu was about manipulating and bending reality so she could lure her opponent into her trap. It took a lot of effort and expertise to perfectly create a Genjutsu that could trap an enemy. That's the reason why not many people are capable of becoming a true Genjutsu user like she was.

The rest of gang stayed with Kakashi who would show them some jutsu and then they could practice it until they mastered it. After thinking for a while Kakashi decided to teach them the 'Shunshin no Jutsu' knowing that this was a very useful jutsu to know. That and he wasn't willing to start with an offence jutsu straight from the start. When Naruto said he had already mastered that jutsu Kakashi asked him if he could help him to show it to the other and help when necessary. Naruto nodded and started to help Kiba out who seemed to have trouble using the jutsu. A few minutes later Kakashi went over to Naruto wanting to ask him some questions.

"Hey Naruto, you have a minute?" Kakashi asked.

"Sure thing Kakashi-sensei, what do you need?" Naruto said smiling. He liked Kakashi, the man was laid back and somewhat lazy but Naruto could see just how skilled the man truly was. And after Kakashi had told him some stories about his time with his father Naruto considered the man a friend.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to teach me that Katon jutsu of yours. The one you used during the preliminaries of the chuunin exam." Kakashi asked wondering.

"You mean the 'Katon: Bakuhatsu Nenchaku Hotaru no Jutsu'?" Naruto said thinking back at that fight.

"Yeah that one. I'd understand if you rather not teach it to anyone." Kakashi said nodding.

"No, I don't mind as long as you don't copy it without asking. As a matter of fact why don't I teach it to everyone?" Naruto said smiling.

"If you're willing to teach them your jutsu then I wouldn't dream of stopping you. In return I'll teach you some of my more advanced jutsu." Kakashi answered.

"You've got yourself a deal Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said before he left to help out Sakura.

Kakashi smiled and left to inform the other Jounin sensei that Naruto was willing to teach them some of his personal jutsu. Anko and Kurenai weren't surprised since they knew that Naruto was that kind of guy but Asuma and Gai where a little surprised. After all, teaching a jutsu that you've made yourself was something not a lot of shinobi did. Anko explained that Naruto didn't have a problem with people knowing some of his jutsu as long as they worked hard for it. If Kakashi had just copied it without asking Naruto would be less friendly about it. Kakashi then assured them that he wouldn't do such a thing to a fellow shinobi and especially not to the son of the man he respected so much. Anko then said that Kakashi wasn't the only Sharingan user and that Naruto wouldn't allow Sasuke to copy jutsu from him or anybody else for that matter. Kakashi nodded and said that he would talk to Sasuke when he got released from the hospital in a few days.

They ended the team training for that day and the teams split up promising to meet each other later that day to go and visit Sasuke in the hospital. Opinions were different on the last member of their group but after talking a bit about it most of them had decided to give the boy another chance. If he wasn't willing to adapt and socialize then they wouldn't have to feel guilty about it if he didn't fit in the group. At least they would have given him a chance which was probably more than he would be willing to do for them. Still, Naruto's words from the day before lingered in their minds which is way they would have to see what would happen, though none of them were truly optimistic about it.

Naruto, Team 8 and their two Jounin sensei went off to their usual training place to continue their daily training as a team. The three genin, a dog and a chuunin were still pretty exhausted from the morning training but none of them dared to complain. They had been given a chance to prove themselves worthy of Konoha and none of them wanted to disappoint. Together they would go all the way and come out on top of this challenge. Once at the training field Naruto was asked by Hinata to help her with her Taijutsu training while Kiba and Shino agreed to another spar together. Naruto happily agreed to help Hinata as he was curious to see just how much she had improved while he was gone.

Naruto and Hinata were both taking their stance, patiently waiting for the other to attack first. Naruto caved in first and shot forward trying to catch Hinata off guard with a punch. Hinata who had expected that Naruto would make the first move calmly blocked the punch and tried to hit several of his tenketsu and pressure points but before she could make her move she had to duck under follow up punch from her opponent. Not wanting to back up now Hinata pressed forward aiming a Jyuken induced punch at Naruto's stomach only to miss him by a mere inch as Naruto had twisted his body to the right. Naruto grabbed her wrist, only to twist it effectively holding her in a arm lock but he hadn't counted on Hinata's flexibility and he felt the slight touch of Hinata's fingers hit him in the upper part of his other arm. Immediately Naruto felt an immense pain forcing him to let go of Hinata who didn't lose a second before continuing her attack. Naruto winced at the pain in his arm before backing up trying to evade and block the incoming attack.

Backing up a little he relaxed when he felt the pain in his arm disappear allowing him to freely use it again. He saw that Hinata was about to launch another attack and he grinned slightly. Though Hinata had improved greatly with her new style, she was still not fully used to it and she needed more experience as well giving him an advantage over her. His own style, while completely different had been completed and Naruto was comfortable using it and that would make all the difference in this fight. One other thing that Naruto had was a high tolerance of pain thanks to Anko's training in the forest all those months ago. Even if Hinata hit some of his pressure points, as long as the pain was tolerable he would be capable of blocking or grabbing her. And this was exactly what he was planning to do. He easily evaded the first few punches and blocked a few others before Hinata got a hit or two. To her surprise however Naruto didn't seem to notice or feel anything and he grabbed both or her arms before pulling her close and planting his knee in her stomach effectively ending the match as she was unable to get up from the attack. Naruto sat next to her, rubbing her back trying to help her deal with the pain. When she regained her breath he stopped and got up, standing in front of her.

"Hinata-chan, that was great. You've surprised me several times during the fight. Well done." Naruto said honestly impressed with the girls progress.

"But you still beat me so easily! I trained so hard and I still lose most of my fights." Hinata said softy visibly disappointed with her performance.

"Don't be like that Hinata-chan, you did great. The only reason why I beat you is that you're still developing your style and it's still foreign to you. Once you get fully used to it you'll be able to use at its full power." Naruto said placing his hand on her shoulder. "Another thing is that your style only uses the hands, this makes it easy to predict the attacks. If your hands get incapacitated you lose the advantage, maybe you should incorporate some kicks as well."

"Naruto is right, Hinata. Your style is still far from completed so you still have time to adjust it where necessary. Just work on getting used to using it and things will work out." Kurenai said supportively.

The rest of the training was used for another spar and some Taijutsu training until they received some unexpected visitors on the training ground. While the kids were training Jiraiya, Tsunade and the Sandaime had arrived as they were checking up on the teams. Tsunade also wanted to reassure everybody that Lee was going to be okay after a few operations but would be unable to join them until he was fully healed. Naruto and the rest were happy to hear the good news and chuckled when Tsunade complained about her headache after informing Gai and Lee. Everyone in Konoha knew about loud and enthusiastic nature.

"Yes well, the reason we came to see you is that Jiraiya here has some business with Anko and you." Sandaime said to Naruto. Jiraiya gulped at the thought of informing Anko of his plan to take Naruto out of the village for a whole 3 years.

"Sure, what's up Ero-sennin." Naruto said earning a glare from Jiraiya and a grin from Tsunade.

"I think we'd better discus this in private, gaki." Jiraiya said while giving the rest of the team an apologetic look.

"That's okay Ero-sennin, I trust them with my life and I'm going to tell them anyway if I'm allowed." Naruto said shrugging.

"If you're sure Naruto." Jiraiya said hesitantly. Inwardly he thought this to be a good thing as Kurenai could help restrain Anko from killing him on the spot."Like we agreed before we left in search of Tsunade here, we'll make your apprenticeship official in the coming days. Unfortunately, my duties to Konoha require me to travel in order to keep up with my spy network meaning that I can't train you properly."

The genin from Team 8 were shocked that one of the Sannin would personally train Naruto. They always knew Naruto would go far but to be trained by one of the legendary Sannin was nothing short of amazing. Still, they wondered why Naruto had been chosen to get such an honor but refrained from saying anything at the moment. They were sure Naruto would explain later on if he was allowed to talk about it. Kurenai, who had been told by Anko about this wasn't surprised by the news but she felt very proud of her students at the moment. Sure they had grown a great deal since she started to teach them but jealousy and envy were human emotions but she was glad that none of her team seemed to have these feelings when they heard the news. She wondered how the other genin would react to this news and couldn't help but imagine a certain Uchiha reacting badly.

"So what's the plan than Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked confused.

"I'll be gone for the next six months but I'll leave you with a training schedule and enough material to keep you busy until my return. When I return however I want to start your full training with me and trust me when I say that I won't go easy on you Gaki." Jiraiya said grinning. Naruto wasn't intimidated however and grinned right back with a smirk that clearly said 'give it your best shot'.

"So in six months you'll be back and then we'll start training together? Sounds fine with me, Ero-sennin." Naruto said happily.

"Jiraiya, you need to tell the whole story otherwise I'll do it for you and you won't like the results." Tsunade threatened. Jiraiya seemed to shrink under her glare and started sweating.

"Euh Naruto, I seems to have forgotten a small detail." Jiraiya said laughing nervously. "You see, I can't stay in the village for a long period of time so I would like to take you on a training trip." Jiraiya was already glancing at Anko who seemed to become very interested in the conversation. She didn't like where this was going, she could tell something wasn't right as she saw Jiraiya flinch when she looked at him.

"A training trip? I guess a few weeks away from the village wouldn't be that bad." Naruto shrugged.

"Ah no, that's not what I mean. It would be a little bit longer." Jiraiya said trying to stall some time before receiving the beating of a lifetime. Tsunade however was looking forward to seeing the pervert beaten to an inch of his life and decided to interfere a bit.

"What the pervert is trying to say is that he wants to take you on a three year training trip outside of Konoha." Tsunade said almost laughing loudly at seeing Jiraiya's face lose all color turning as white as snow. The Sandaime too couldn't help but let out a small chuckle seeing the horror on his students face. Though he did take a few steps back from Jiraiya so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire.

"THREE YEARS!! YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE KONOHA FOR THREE YEARS? ARE YOU CRAZY ERO-SENNIN?" Naruto shouted.

"IF YOU THINK THAT I'M GOING TO LET YOU TAKE NARUTO-KUN WITH YOU THEN THINK AGAIN YOU DAMN PERVERT!" Anko shouted at the same time. Now the rest of the team had taken their distance as well following the Sandaime's example. Tsunade was having the time of her life watching Jiraiya who was trying to hide behind the Sandaime only to be pushed back in front of Anko and Naruto.

"WHY CAN'T WE TRAIN IN KONOHA? I MEAN, WHY DO WE NEED TO LEAVE?" Naruto demanded to know.

"YOU BETTER HAVE A REALLY GOOD EXPLANATION FOR THIS PERVERT OR ELSE I'M GOING TO ENJOY TESTING MY NEW KUNAI ON YOU!!" Anko yelled as well.

"Now Anko and Naruto, at least give Jiraiya the chance to explain his reasoning for wanting to take Naruto out of the village." Sandaime said trying to calm everyone down so they could talk like adult. Kurenai as well was trying to calm Anko down while Kiba, Shino and Hinata were taking care of Naruto. It took them a few minutes but they had finally calmed down enough to hear Jiraiya out.

"Now, Jiraiya why don't you start from the beginning?" Sandaime said still smiling a bit.

"W-well, it's simple really. Naruto, you're one of Akatsuki's targets you know this. While, for the rest of the genin training with their Jounin sensei might be enough for now, you need to be on a whole other level. That's why I decided to make you my successor." Jiraiya said gulping when he saw Anko motioning to continue. "But in order to do that I need time, it would take about three years for me to teach you my techniques. I can't do that when we're in the village as you would have to do missions and other training as well. One other reason is that I want to keep your whereabouts hidden from Akatsuki as well."

"Wait, I thought Hokage-sama said that Akatsuki's goals where unknown but you just said that Naruto is one of their targets. What do you mean by that?" Kiba asked curiously. Hinata and Shino nodded showing that they too wanted to know why Naruto was one of their targets.

"We don't know their ultimate goal but we do know that they are after people like Naruto. People with a Bijuu sealed inside them however we don't know what they are planning to do with the Bijuu." Sandaime said sighing. He had wanted to keep that part of the information hidden a little longer but figured that they would have found out sooner or later.

"You have to understand Naruto that you're facing an enormously powerful enemy. These are S-ranked Nukenin we're talking about, normal training won't cut it. Your teammates will be there to help you but to be absolutely sure you'll need to be stronger than everyone. You'll need to be strong enough to deal with such adversaries on your own." Jiraiya sighed. He understood Naruto's feelings about not wanting to leave the village and his loved ones for so long but he really thought this was the only way to ensure his survival.

"Can you guarantee that Naruto will be strong enough to defeat them after those three years?" Anko said softly. She had been listening to Jiraiya's explanation and no matter how much she hated it, she had to agree that what he said made sense.

"Anko-chan, you can't be serious…." Naruto said shocked that she would even consider Jiraiya's idea.

"Naruto-kun, don't get me wrong I don't want you to leave Konoha and me. As a matter of fact I would hate it if you left for so long but you have to agree that what pervert says makes sense." Anko said before hugging him. "Akatsuki won't hold back any punches and you need to be as strong as possible to defeat them. They won't stop at nothing to get their hands on you and the only way to win is to get stronger."

"But…" Naruto said trying to protest.

"Naruto, I understand your feelings but sometimes we have to do what is best for everyone instead of what we want. That's the duty of the Hokage." Sandaime said solemnly. "Training with Jiraiya will make you strong enough to protect your precious people and the village from the threat the Akatsuki represents. Who knows what would happen if they gathered all of the Bijuu?"

"I know Ji-chan but what about everyone here? What about the village? I can't just abandon everyone so I could leave on a training mission?" Naruto sighed.

"Now you're just overreacting Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly blushing slightly when everyone turned to her." I-I mean, none of us would think that you would be abandoning anyone. On the contrary, you'll would be sacrificing a bit of your own happiness to ensure the survival of the village."

"Hinata's right." Kiba said. "You would be performing your duty to the village to get stronger just like we will with our training."

"Like Hinata and Kiba said none of us would think your abandoning us." Shino said backing his teammates up as well.

"Naruto-kun, I think you should go on this training trip." Anko said softly. "It's the only way to ensure you'll get strong enough. Three years is a very long time and I'll miss you terribly but if that's the sacrifice I gave to make to be able to grow old with you than I'll gladly pay it." She then kissed him gently letting him know that she hated the idea of him leaving but she did think that it was the best course of action for now. Naruto held her tightly in his arms whishing that things were differently but knew that she was right. When he pulled back from her kiss he smiled at her before nodding.

"Fine Ero-sennin, if you think that's what it'll takes to deal with those bastards then I guess I've got no choice." Naruto said looking at him.

"Very well Gaki, prepare for one hell of a training trip. I'll be back in six months and then we'll start." Jiraiya said relieved that he had lived through this conversation. He truly had expected Anko to go ballistic but in the end things had worked out pretty well. At least that was what he thought until he felt the unmistakable feeling of a kunai pressed against his most precious possession. He turned his head slowly only to stare straight into Anko's eyes. He winced when he heard her whisper something in his ear.

"Get one thing straight pervert. If my Naruto-kun comes back as a pervert or without visual improvement I'll do every woman on this earth a favor by neutering you on the spot. Do I make myself clear?" Anko threatened.

"P-Perfectly and crystal clear." Jiraiya squeaked loudly making everyone laugh at his panicked voice.

Jiraiya relaxed after she removed the kunai from between his legs and told Naruto that he would meet up with him the next day to give him his training schedule for the next six months. Naruto asked if he was allowed to continue training with the rest of the group as well which Jiraiya didn't mind as long as he got his own work done as well. Jiraiya then left the group to do some research to ease his nerves after being threatened to be neutered by Anko. Of course when he voiced this out loud Tsunade just punched his lights out sending him flying through the air. Sandaime shook his head muttering something that sounded like 'still behaving like children' before he too said his goodbye's for the day.

"Tsunade-sama, could I speak to you for a few minutes?" Hinata asked taking a step forward. She remembered what Naruto had said about Tsunade's medic nin project and this was a good chance to talk to her about it.

"You're Hyuuga Hinata right?" Tsunade asked earning a nod from Hinata." What can I do for you?"

"Naruto-kun told me that you would like to start a program to train medic nin so I would like to join if possible." Hinata said nervously.

"You want to be a medic nin?" Tsunade asked interested.

"Hai, and I'm not the only one. Two of my friends Sakura-chan and Ino-chan want to join as well." Hinata said with confidence as she wanted to make a good impression.

Tsunade was slightly shocked to hear that she already had found three people who wanted to become medic nin. She hadn't even talked about it with Shizune or Sandaime yet here was a girl and two of her friends who were eager to start learning. She could see it in the girls eyes that she was serious about being a medic nin and it pleased her greatly.

"Meet me at the Hokage's office tomorrow at nine and we'll discuss your training then. Bring your two friends as well." Tsunade said while starting to leave.

Hinata couldn't believe what she just heard, Tsunade had practically accepted the three of them as her students. Hinata couldn't help but feel immensely proud of herself and a huge smile appeared on her face. Before she had time to fully register what just happened her teammates and Sensei's came over and congratulated her over and over again. Kurenai told her that since training was over for the day she should go inform both Sakura and Ino. Hinata smiled and nodded before racing off in search of her friends.

"Man, first Naruto and now Hinata as well. Catching up to you just became a lot harder." Kiba said looking at Naruto.

"Oh don't worry Kiba, me and the rest of the Jounin Sensei will take good care of you." Anko said while grinning at him.

"Anko-chan is right Kiba, you'll become stronger as well since you'll be training with 5 Jounin Sensei's." Naruto said clapping Kiba on the shoulder.

Kiba cheered up after that and nodded. They were right after all, each Jounin Sensei had a lot to teach and they would become a lot stronger with their help. On top of that he still had training with his clan where he would learn a lot more techniques and Jutsu as well. His thoughts were interrupted when Naruto's stomach declared to everyone that it needed food much to Naruto's embarrassment. Laughing they all set off to have something to eat.

* * *

Thank you for reading and I hope I did a good job for this chapter.

Like I said, these chapters now are filled with vital information for the future chapters so sometimes it tends to get somewhat boring to read. To make sure that doesn't happen (or at least not much) I tried to have Naruto and the gang interact as much as possible. Next chapter will have some more info and Tsunade will officially become the Godaime Hokage. So look forward to it and see you in TWO WEEKS.

The next chapter will be released on Sunday the 24th of August.


	28. Chapter 28: A New Hokage

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everybody. How are you all doing? I hope everyone is doing fine. I'm doing great. I absolutely love London and the people who I work with. Lots of wonderful and interesting people so that's great. Training so far is tough but I'm enjoying myself. Luckily there are two other new people who just starting their training so we have a lot of fun. Alright that's enough talking about work.

Thank you all for the reviews and for reading. This chapter is mainly about character development and the beginning of new era in this story. Like I said before the next few chapter will be about the six months until Naruto leaves with Jiraiya. I think there will be about three more chapters until that event. Depends on what kind of ideas I come up with. If you have suggestions or remarks don't hesitate to PM me. If I like your idea I'll send you a message so we can work out some details together.

Now I have a question for you all.

I'm looking for a cool name for Naruto's sword. For those of you who know Japanese; please send it in Japanese. But for those who don't know Japanese (the most of you I guess) just send it in English. Doesn't matter if you think it's silly or already done, I'll might be able to use and combine some ideas into one name. Thank you in advance to everyone who helps out.

That's all I've got to say this time. Enjoy the chapter and let me know how it was.

* * *

Chapter 28: A new Hokage

Uchiha Sasuke was staring out the window with a pissed off look on his face. He had woken up that very morning feeling like crap. According to the nurse that had cleaned him up (much to his embarrassment), he had been in a comatose condition for several weeks and it was only thanks to Tsunade-sama that he was awake. While she was helping him into a pajama (again much to his embarrassment) she told him that Namikaze Naruto and Jiraiya of the Sannin had convinced her to come back to the village and that according to the rumors she was going to be the Godaime Hokage. Sasuke tuned her out after that, as he was too angry at hearing that the 'dobe' of the class had succeeded in bringing back a woman who was famous for leaving the village swearing she would never return.

After she was done the nurse left him alone in his room saying that if he needed anything, she was only a press of a button away. This left Sasuke to think how he had gotten into this predicament. After racking his brain a bit he remembered what had happened and a scowl appeared on his face. Itachi had come back to the village and was not even interested in him. Sasuke had noticed how strange Kakashi had acted at the Dango shop and on a whim, he decided to follow him. Imaging the surprise when he saw his older brother, the one who had killed all those Sasuke held dear standing there right in front of him, like he was challenging him to attack. He was about to attack his brother when he heard Itachi say that he wasn't interested in him but instead wanted to know where Naruto was. That had shocked Sasuke more than anything and it angered him even more and he could not hold it back any longer.

To his surprise Itachi did not even move a muscle and just stood there waiting for him to strike. When Itachi grabbed his wrist and pulled him close Sasuke could not believe the difference in power between the two of them. The 'Chidori' was his ultimate attack and his brother stopped it like it was nothing not only that but it seemed Itachi was bored beyond anything. Then the pain came, a broken wrist was painful enough but when he looked into Itachi's eye things just got worse.

_Small flashback_

"Do you know why you're weak my foolish little brother?" Itachi whispered in his ear. Sasuke was on his knees holding his broken wrist trying to bite the pain. "It's because you lack hatred. Maybe this will help you improve a bit."

Sasuke who couldn't help but look up at that statement looked right into Itachi's Sharingan. But this wasn't the same Sharingan as before, his Sharingan had changed and Sasuke found it impossible to avert his eyes. Next thing he knew he was standing in front of the scene he had witnessed all those years ago. Standing there was a younger Sasuke, his parents lying dead on the floor and a younger Itachi who just sheathed his Anbu sword.

"Welcome to the world of 'Tsukiyomi', my foolish little brother." A voice said. "In here I control what happens. Do you remember this Sasuke? Yes, this isn't a Genjutsu or an illusion but my very memory of that night."

"W-what is going on here?" Sasuke stammered not wanting to see the murder of his parents again.

"This is a gift from me to you. To ensure you'll get stronger and that you won't forget what happened that night." The voice answered. "In this world I control everything and for the next 72 hours you'll witness the death of our beloved father and mother over and over again."

To Sasuke's horror, the scene changed and he saw how his older brother killed his mum and dad without hesitating and remorse. Repeatedly the scene replayed and Sasuke could help but let out a scream. This was torture beyond anything he had ever imagined, to see his parents getting murdered like he was there was just too much for the young boy and he fell to his knees and sobbed loudly.

"71 hours 59 minutes and 59 seconds remaining." The voice said and Sasuke screamed out in horror.

In the real world, only a fraction of a second had past but when Kakashi and the other Jounin heard Sasuke scream and collapse, they knew something was very wrong. To Sasuke however the world had turned black and he slipped into a comatose condition.

_End Flashback_

Sasuke shook his head hoping to forget the horrors he had seen during his brother's attack. He instead focused on the fact that his brother was searching for Naruto and wondered what was so special about the blond shinobi. Just thinking about him pissed Sasuke off; the blond shinobi had changed so much in the last year that it was almost like he was a whole new person. Every since he started training with that purple-haired woman Naruto had undergone a transformation. He still remembered the day he encountered them in that shinobi only shop where Naruto told him that he defeated a Chuunin level shinobi and that he was granted his Genin status because of it. At that time, he didn't know it but now he knew the Chuunin was Mizuki, one of their Academy teachers. The man was not that powerful but he was a Chuunin nonetheless, Sasuke had no doubt he could beat him now but wondered if he could have beaten him when he came straight out of the academy. The important thing was that since that day in the shop Sasuke had seen the change in the 'dobe' and it made him nervous.

'How did Naruto get so strong in so little time?" He furiously thought.

After that he didn't see Naruto for quite some time, actually it wasn't until the first test of the Chuunin exam that he saw Naruto again and he could see that Naruto had gotten stronger. He even had heard some rumors that one of the C-rank missions that Naruto and Team 8 had done turned into a higher rank and that they had faced and defeated an incredible powerful nukenin. Although he didn't want to believe it at that time it was confirmed later on that Naruto had defeated and killed one of the 'Onikyoudai', Chuunin from the Mist and Momochi Zabuza, a high level Jounin.

'I can't believe he defeated an A-rank Nukenin. How did he get so powerful?" Sasuke scowled.

But it was during Naruto's match with Gaara that he saw a bit of Naruto's true power. The technique that he used was devastatingly powerful, it not only destroyed the sand shield that covered Gaara but also blow him away into the wall. Moreover, Kakashi's proclamation that the 'Rasengan' was vastly superior to the 'Chidori' in terms of power angered Sasuke even more. However, the invasion had been a great way to test his strength against strong adversaries and he proved to himself that he too was strong by defeating several of the invading shinobi. It didn't matter to him that he ignored or disobeyed an order from a superior; all he wanted was to fight and to get stronger. When most of the shinobi were defeated he had turned his attention to the fight between Orochimaru and the Sandaime, he had hoped to copy some jutsu with his Sharingan but because of all the fighting he had used all his chakra and was unable to activate his Sharingan any longer. When he saw Naruto break through the barrier that had stopped several Anbu he cursed loudly, once again the 'dobe' had managed to surpass him and it started to piss him off.

'That fight was beyond anything I could or can do. The jutsu, the taijutsu, Kenjutsu everything was above my level.' Sasuke was so angry that he didn't notice that the cursed seal Orochimaru gave him in the forest of death had started to spread slightly.

Seeing Naruto fight side by side with the Sandaime, defeating the Shodaime and Nidaime and eventually Orochimaru himself had confirmed everything. The 'dobe' was anything but a 'dobe' instead he was promoted to chuunin together with that lazy Nara while he, an Uchiha, had been berated for disobeying an order. The final insult was when Naruto's parenthood was revealed to the village. The fact that Naruto was the son of the famous Yondaime Hokage seemed to make Naruto very popular all off a sudden.

'They used to treat him like dirt and now they fall on their knees for him.' Sasuke sneered.

Although this wasn't the truth, Sasuke saw it that way. Many people had been reconsidering their feelings about Naruto but many of the older people in the village were still wary around him. Son of the Yondaime or not he still had the Kyuubi sealed inside him and this made him dangerous. Still they figured that it wouldn't be a good idea to openly show their hostility towards Naruto as he had been gotten more popular with the younger crowed. The help Naruto provided after the invasion had helped a great deal in convincing people that he wasn't the Kyuubi after all. Sasuke continued to think and getting angry until a voice came from the doorway.

"Yo." Kakashi said lazily. He had been observing Sasuke for a few minutes and what he saw didn't impress him. Apparently, Sasuke's anger was so great that it prevented him from noticing his surroundings, something that could get a shinobi killed. Kakashi didn't have to ask why Sasuke was so angry, it was written on his face and it showed in his eyes.

"Hn. What do you want?" Sasuke said with some malice in his voice.

"I'm glad that you're awake, Sasuke. You got us worried there for a moment." Kakashi said while entering the room.

"Whatever." Sasuke just turned his head back to the window and stayed silent.

"Yes well, I came here to tell you that you'll be able to leave the hospital in a few days. Also starting then you'll be part of a special unit designed to defeat the group called Akatsuki." Kakashi said knowing that this would interest Sasuke.

"Akatsuki? What's that?" Sasuke said curiously.

"Akatsuki is a group of S-rank Nukenin, one of whom is your brother and the man you saw next to him. We don't know their goal but it's safe to say that they are a threat to Konoha." Kakashi shrugged.

When Sasuke heard that Itachi was part of this group he immediately agreed to join this group of elite fighters. He could already imagine the things he would learn while training with such a group. But he would have to make perfectly clear that Itachi was his to kill. He wouldn't allow anyone else that privilege. After all, only an Uchiha can defeat and kill an Uchiha. They were the elite of the elite, everyone knew that. He could already see Naruto's face when he told him that he was selected for a special unit.

'Beat that dobe.' He smirked.

"Meet us at training ground at six am when you get out. You will be training with Team 8, Team 10, Team Gai, Sakura and Naruto in physical training, ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu." Kakashi continued.

"Wait a minute, you mean that this special unit is made out of Genin?" Sasuke all but shouted.

"That's right; Hokage-sama selected our teams personally saying that all of you have the potential to become strong enough to deal with S-ranked Nukenin." Kakashi said smiling although his mask covered it.

'This can't be happening. Just when I thought I surpassed Naruto.' Sasuke thought, his anger coming back in full force.

"Oh, one last thing Sasuke. You are forbidden to use the Sharingan to copy Jutsu or any techniques from your fellow members of your group." Kakashi said seriously.

"WHAT!? You can be serious?" Sasuke said loudly.

"I'm very serious Sasuke. Copying jutsu from enemies is one thing but to steal them from your friends and allies is a whole other thing. Trust me when I say that even I don't copy jutsu from fellow Konoha shinobi. To do so would not only be dishonorable but it would be an insult to those who worked hard to master those techniques and jutsu." Kakashi explained hoping Sasuke would understand what he was trying to say.

"So how do you expect me to learn new jutsu and get stronger? Huh?" Sasuke said glaring at his sensei.

"By learning them like you did before you acquired the Sharingan. By practicing and training, then and only then will you truly master them." Kakashi patiently said. "Besides Naruto and the rest won't allow you to copy their jutsu anyway."

By now, Sasuke was fuming mad, first he heard that he would have to work and train with Naruto and the rest of those loser shinobi and then they forbade him from using his Sharingan, his birthright. Who cares if he copied a few jutsu? He was an Uchiha and the Sharingan was part of him. He would have to start thinking that they wanted to hinder him in his quest of getting stronger. This was preposterous in his opinion.

"Sasuke, I know you like to depend on your Sharingan but you really should learn how to fight without it. If you're strong enough to fight without it then you'll be twice as strong when you do use it." Kakashi said seeing how mad his student was getting. He really hoped that Sasuke would adapt and learned to work with the rest of the genin. Together they would be a force to be reckoned with but they needed flawless teamwork if they wanted to go against the Akatsuki. "Think about what I said okay?"

Sasuke didn't bother to acknowledge Kakashi's parting and just continued to brood while staring out the window. Things were spiraling out of control and he needed to get back on track. He figured he could give this 'special unit' a chance seeing that Kakashi and the rest of the Jounin sensei were the best in their field so he should be able to pick up some useful stuff. But once he had learned everything they offered he would have to find another way to get stronger.

By the time Naruto and his team had finished eating it had already gotten dark so they decided to go home for the night. Tomorrow would come soon enough and to be honest most of them were still tired and hurting from Gai's training that morning. After saying their goodbye's Anko and Naruto linked hands and walked towards Anko's apartment. Naruto however had been thinking about moving into the home his parents left him in their will. While nobody had lived there for a very long time Sandaime had someone clean it every once in a while so that when Naruto decided to move into the house it would be ready for him. While he loved Anko's apartment he found it to be a waste of time to pay rent every month while he had a house where they could live. Now that his heritage had been announced and most of the shock had passed perhaps it was time to take the next step. When they arrived at the apartment Naruto opened the door and went inside still holding his girlfriends hand.

"Ne, Anko-chan I've been thinking about something." Naruto said not really knowing how to begin on the subject.

"Thinking? About what?" Anko asked.

"You know that my mum and dad left me their house right?" Naruto asked to which Anko just nodded. "How would you feel about living there?"

"You want to move out? What about the apartment?" She asked curiously. She rather liked her place, it was cozy, not to big but not small either and with Naruto here it finally felt like home.

"Don't get me wrong, I love this place but it seems kind of silly to pay rent when we can live together in a house don't you think?" he shrugged.

"I'm all for it though I think it would be better if we visit the house first don't you think? Do you know where it is?" Anko asked.

"Yeah, Ji-chan told me where it located and that he paid for a Genin team to clean it up every once in a while over the years." Naruto nodded. "Still, it couldn't hurt to check it out before we make a permanent decision."

Anko nodded and hugged Naruto close, she knew how much this house meant for him. It was the house he was supposed to grow up in, a place he could call home with his parents but unfortunately Kyuubi had destroyed that possibility when it attacked Konoha. She also knew that moving there would be an emotional happening and she vowed to talk about it with him later on. It could wait until they had seen the state of the house. They spend the evening just the two of them, talking and enjoying each other's company knowing that in six months Naruto would have to leave on his training trip. They vowed to treasure the time they had together in the coming months.

The next morning training went its normal way with Gai yelling about the youthfulness of the genin and pushing them past their limits with his special training he had made for them. The kids however wanted nothing more than sit down and rest once they felt the pain in their muscles. Still they pulled trough and Gai congratulated them for making it through the first part of his training. Sakura, Ino, Chouji and TenTen were horrified and could only imagine what the other parts would be and shivered in fear. The others weren't surprised at hearing about a second part but still weren't very enthusiastic about it either. None of them dared to ask what the second part of the training was however.

At 8h30 however Ino, Sakura and Hinata had to leave for the hokage tower to meet with Tsunade concerning their medical training. Gai gave them the thumbs up and praised their youthfulness to the heavens shouting loudly saying that Konoha's future was in their youthful hands making all of them wonder about his sanity. The three girls hurried out of the training grounds glad to be away from the self-proclaimed 'Green Beast of Konoha'. When they arrived at the tower Sakura, Ino and Hinata were starting to get nervous about the meeting. They would be meeting one of the legendary Sannin and discuss a possible training program for them. They weren't like Naruto who seemed to meet legends of the Shinobi world on regular basis so they were understandably a little worried. After entering the tower Hinata went over to the lady at the front desk and told her that they had a meeting with Tsunade at nine to which the lady just motioned them to proceed and knock on the door. Together they stood in front of the door and gulped once before Sakura knocked politely. After receiving the ok to come inside she opened the door and simultaneously they stepped inside.

"Ah good morning girls. Tsunade told me about your meeting with her last night. She'll be here any minute so why don't you sit down for a moment." Sandaime said noticing how nervous the girls were.

"Good morning Hokage-sama." They said sitting down.

"Really girls, there's nothing to be nervous about. Take Naruto for example, he never gets nervous around me." Sandaime said with a smile.

"Yes but Naruto is hardly a normal person is he?" Hinata said laughing a bit making the Sandaime laugh loudly. She knew about the closeness Sandaime and Naruto shared.

"You might be right there Hinata. He has always treated me like a grandfather instead of the leader of this village. In fact, I don't think he has ever called me 'Hokage-sama' in all these years." Sandaime said with a pensive look on his face. Sakura and Ino, who had always wondered why Naruto and the Hokage were so close, figured it was because Naruto was the son of the legendary Yondaime so they didn't question it any further. Just then the door opened again and Tsunade and Shizune entered the room making the three girls jump up from their seat greeting both of the women.

"Good morning Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san." The three of them said together.

"Well, I'm glad to see that the three of you aren't like a certain other blonde Chuunin we know." Tsunade said glad that they at least showed her respect.

"Come now Tsunade-sama, you know Naruto-kun doesn't mean anything when he calls you Tsunade-Baachan', that just how he is." Shizune said trying to defend Naruto.

"Yeah yeah whatever, enough about the gaki. Now you two must be Sakura and Ino right?" getting affirmative nods Tsunade continued. "Hinata here told me that you're interested in becoming a medic Nin just like her, is that correct?" another nod. "Very well, tell me why you would think I should teach you?" she said pointed at Hinata.

"Well, I've always enjoyed making medicine from herbs ever since I was a little girl. But it wasn't until Naruto told me that a shinobi isn't just someone who kills or injures people that I started considering becoming a medic Nin. I told him that I don't enjoy hurting other people and that maybe I should quit being a shinobi." She said recalling the incident making her chuckle a bit. "He sure told me that day. He was furious at me for giving up so fast without trying and said that if I didn't like hurting people then I should learn healing them instead. Ever since that day I've tried to become the best kunoichi I can be, becoming a medic Nin isn't just a dream anymore, it has become one of my goals in life." Hinata finished proudly.

"Yes, the Gaki has a way with words doesn't he?" Tsunade said smiling. She too had received one of Naruto's life changing speeches after all. Hinata agreed with a smile and a nod. "Alright how about you, Sakura?"

"I didn't get one of Naruto's speeches like Hinata but I guess the reason why I want to become a medic Nin is that I too want to keep my friends and family safe. If I can become a medic Nin then I can help my teammates and friends when they're hurt making sure that they come back home to me. To be honest, until the Chuunin exams I was a useless fangirl chasing after Sasuke-kun but I made a promise to Hinata-chan that I would change and become a kunoichi worthy of Konoha." Sakura said softly. She was a bit ashamed to talk about her fangirl period but she needed to show that she had changed for the better, not only to Tsunade but also to Hinata.

"So you want to keep those you love safe and out of harm?" Tsunade asked. "Very well and last but not least Ino?"

"My reason is about the same as Sakura, Tsunade-sama. Like her, I was chasing Sasuke instead of trying to be the best kunoichi I could be. I've been trying to rectify that ever since the Chuunin exams. My teammates are my friends and I want them to be safe and if I become a medic Nin then I can make sure that none of them ever leave me." Ino said with confidence.

"Very good reasons indeed but I have one last question for the three of you." Tsunade said leaning back in her seat. "Do you have what it takes to complete this training?" she held up her hand showing she wasn't done yet. "Let me tell you girls that being a medic Nin isn't that simple. There will be times where you won't be able to help those in need. That no matter what you do there will be times that you won't be able to save your patient. Can you handle the responsibility of having to take decisions that could mean life or death? This is the duty and curse of a medic Nin, now tell me can you handle that?"

A loud 'YES' from the three girls was the answer and Tsunade smiled while looking at Shizune who nodded. They had been impressed with the three girls and their decision was clear. They would train them to be the next generation medic Nin, they would entrust the future of Konoha to them by teaching them everything they knew. Slowly Tsunade stood up and walked in front of the girls who looked up at Tsunade.

"Your training starts tomorrow. Be at the hospital at four pm, Shizune will take care of your training in the beginning but as you progress you'll be entrusted with working at the hospital. When I deem you ready I'll take over from Shizune and train you myself. You girls better be ready because we'll work you to the bone, do I make myself clear?" Tsunade finished loudly.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama." The three yelled out equally loud.

"Very well, you're dismissed." Tsunade said. The girls nodded and bowed to Sandaime and the two women and left the office.

A loud 'YES, WE DID IT!' was heard a few seconds later making Tsunade, Shizune and Sandaime chuckle. Tsunade liked the three girls and thought that if they would be able to finish the necessary training they would be wonderful medic Nin and a valuable asset to Konoha. Becoming a medic Nin was hard and not a lot of people would be able to complete the training.

"They certainly are motivated aren't they?" Shizune said smiling.

"The three of them have made an enormous change over the past year." Sandaime said while taking out his pipe much to Tsunade's displeasure.

"Let me guess, the Gaki played a role in their transformation." Tsunade said while waving her hand to prevent the smoke from reaching her.

"Indirectly yes, he forced Hinata to confront her own feelings and in turn she forced Sakura to face her own feelings. Ino and Sakura however were rivals for years but everything changed after the Chuunin exams." Sandaime said. "Ino was defeated by Uchiha Sasuke in the preliminaries where he attempted to use a Katon jutsu against her. It seems she took his aggressive nature very badly and her feelings for the young man seemed to have lessened a great deal."

"You know, I haven't heard much good about this Sasuke. Do you think he'll be trouble?" Tsunade inquired.

"Sasuke is obsessed with killing his brother and the trauma he suffered all those years ago make him rather unstable. I hope that he learns to open up to the rest of the genin but I'm afraid that won't be so easy." Sandaime sighed.

"Maybe we should let Naruto-kun talk to him?" Shizune said half jokingly half-serious.

"Unfortunately that would prove to be even harder. Sasuke and Naruto have a complicated history together. During their academy days Sasuke was the best in class while Naruto, though not his fault was dead last. Naruto saw Sasuke as a rival, someone he wanted to surpass but Sasuke refused to acknowledge Naruto in any way. Then Naruto started training with Anko and got much stronger in only six months. That he not only surpassed Sasuke and became a Chuunin before him must have been a huge shock to Sasuke and it resulted in him starting to dislike Naruto even more, maybe even hating him." Sandaime explained to Tsunade and Shizune.

"The fact the dead last surpassed the 'Rookie of the year' must have been a tough nut to swallow for someone like Sasuke." Tsunade agreed.

"We'll see what happens but you should know that Orochimaru has taken an interest in Sasuke and even gave him a cursed seal. This alone is reason for worrying but as long as he doesn't do anything that could endanger Konoha there's nothing we can do." Sandaime said.

"Of course, Orochimaru has always been jealous of the Uchiha for their capability to copy Jutsu." Tsunade said understanding why her ex-teammate would be interested in Sasuke.

"Let's leave this subject for another time. Are you ready for tonight? No doubt rumors have already filled the village about you coming back." Sandaime said making Tsunade groan.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Tsunade sighed. She didn't look forward to the announcement that she would become the Godaime.

Sandaime nodded and together they started looking over the preparations they had made for the ceremony. The council had accepted Tsunade as Godaime the night before and to Sandaime surprise none of them had any problems with her taking the position of Hokage. In the evening the rest of the village would know who their new leader would be and Sandaime hoped that everything went fine as well. The whole village would be assembled, shinobi and civilians included.

For the genin time went fast, between training with the other teams and their own training the day was over before the genin realized it. The afternoon training was cut short so everyone could get ready for the ceremony that would take place later that evening. The girls needed time to put on their best kimono and though the men needed less time to get ready they too were dismissed to get ready. Anko and Naruto returned to her apartment after Kurenai and Anko had a small disagreement about what Anko would wear. Kurenai wanted that her friend put on her best kimono while Anko wanted nothing more than going in her usual outfit saying that she wasn't a kimono girl. It took Naruto's help saying that he enjoyed seeing Anko in a kimono to get her to agree and even that had been a huge victory for both Kurenai and Naruto.

When they all were ready and assembled they travelled in group to the place where Tsunade would be announced as the Godaime Hokage. On the way there fellow shinobi and villagers joined them and the atmosphere was somewhat tense but enjoyable. The village had recovered from the invasion and things were going great so none of them were worried about the Sandaime's announcement. Of course the fact that rumors could be heard about Tsunade's return could have contributed to this. As shinobi the group managed to get a prime location and together the group waited for the Sandaime to make his appearance on the stage. People were talking loudly about what they thought was going to happen and Naruto had to stifle a laugh and a grin when he heard some of the more outrageous things he heard. Finally the Sandaime arrived at the scene and as soon as he approached the stage the crowd went silent. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the respect and authority his Ji-chan seemed to command and hoped that by the time he got to be Hokage he too would be able to silence the whole village just by arriving.

"People of Konoha, I stand before you today with an announcement that will rock Konoha to its core." Sandaime began before he let out a small chuckle. "Again." Most of the crowd smiled as well knowing that their leader referred to the announcement he made some time before about Naruto's heritage. When he lifted his hands, the crowd went silent once again.

"Over the past few months I have seen Konoha at what might have been its weakest point and it strongest only a few days later. The invasion that threatened to destroy our beautiful village was a turning point for many of us." Sandaime said while quickly looking at Naruto who smiled back at him. "On the day of the invasion I was told that Konoha had become stagnant and that a change was necessary. I now see that person was right in saying that Konoha needed a change." People started talking amongst themselves wondering what Sandaime wanted to say.

"You see, I have been Hokage for many years and not once have I regretted becoming the protector of this village. I've considered it my privilege and my duty to ensure the safety and happiness of each and every one of you, though sometimes I have failed in my endeavors." Sandaime continued. "And just like the almighty trees that surround our village I've grown old and I feel that I'm unable to protect Konoha at a level that is necessary. It is for that reason that as of this moment effectively I, Sarutobi Mamoru resign from my position as Hokage."

To say the crowd was shocked at this announcement was a huge understatement. Even with several rumors going around nobody had thought that their leader would resign today. People were starting to get nervous and most of them were wondering who would be their new leader and what would that leader be like. Almost everybody in the village adored the old Sandaime as he was fair to everyone and strict to those who deserved it. Sarutobi let them wonder for a moment before he tried to gain back control of the crowd. Once again he raised his arms asking for silence and their attention. It took a bit longer for the crowd to stop talking this time but after several minutes people were finally quiet.

"I'm sure this comes as a huge shock to some of you and that most of you are worried about what will happen next." Sandaime said in his usual calming voice. "I assure you, there is nothing to worry about as I already have chosen my successor. I have the utmost confidence that my successor will be everything this village need in a leader. There is no doubt in my mind that she will be a better leader than I was. People of Konoha I present to you the Godaime Hokage, my former student and member of the legendary Sannin Tsunade." Saying this Sarutobi took a step back allowing Tsunade to come forward so she could greet the crowd.

At hearing that Tsunade, one of the legendary Sannin would be their new leader almost everybody in the crowd relaxed knowing that she was able to defend the village in time of need. Not only that she was a direct descendent of the Shodaime Hokage so being a Hokage was in her blood. A lot of people adored Tsunade seeing she was an excellent kunoichi, a fabulous healer and an inspiration for many so most of them were very excited to have her as their new leader. When Tsunade reached the stage the crowd exploded into cheers and applause, showing her that the village approved of her becoming the next Hokage.

"People of Konoha, I thank you for your warm welcome. "Tsunade began her speech. "I won't bore you with a long speech like Sarutobi-sensei seeing that I'm not used to speaking to such a large crowd just yet." People were laughing and smiling at seeing one of the Sannin standing there uncomfortably and they started to encourage her by calling her name and clapping in their hands. From the front row a loud 'You're doing great Baa-chan' could be heard courtesy of a blond shinobi. Tsunade who had heard Naruto's words glared at him with a look that promised a lot of pain when she saw him again. Naruto just ignored the glare and continued laughing loudly.

"When I heard that Sarutobi-sensei had chosen me to be his successor, I first thought that he had finally lost it. "She said smirking at the man and the crowd laughed again. "But I soon realized that he only had the best interests of the village and everyone living in it at heart. He deemed me worthy of becoming the protector of this village so after careful consideration and some encouragement from my closest friend and my precious people," she stopped and looked at Shizune and Naruto before continuing, "I decided to take up the mantle and to become the Godaime Hokage."

"I stand here before you today with a promise that as of this very moment I will protect Konoha and everybody who lives in this village with my very life. I promise you that as long as my heart beats and my lungs draw air I will protect this village. And like one of my most precious people I never break a promise." She said before bowing to the silent crowd. As one Naruto and the gang started clapping and soon the whole crowd was cheering at the top of their lungs. The celebrations that followed went on until the early morning hours though Naruto and his friends didn't join in the partying as they had training the following morning.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Any suggestions or remark are appreciated so don't hesitate.

The next chapter will be released on September 7th. See you guys then.


	29. Chapter 29: Just another day in Konoha

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of my story. It has been an exciting two weeks for me with work and living in London. Some of my colleagues are truly party animal's lol. I'm the second youngest one there and I got owned in drinking and dancing by everyone else. I just couldn't believe it when I went out with them, they know how to party that's sure. And the amazing thing is that after the weekend they seem to have slept for ages. Well rested and everything while I'm still recovering from the hangover from 2 days before. Guess I need some training in that department as well.

Anyway I would like to thank the following people: Yamada Hirozashi, Too Much Work, IY1, shadowforte49, Trib, RaidenTensho, NightWolf214 and Respen for their suggestions on the name for Naruto's sword. They all gave some truly interesting names but so far I haven't decided yet on the name. So if you have any other ideas just keep them coming.

So let's get on with the chapter. Enjoy and let me know how it was.

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Chapter 29: Just another day in Konoha

The following morning Anko and Naruto walked towards the training grounds amazed at how many people they saw along the way. Apparently the party had lasted until the early hours and they saw more than a few people sleeping of their hangovers on the side of the road or in one case in the middle of the road. They even saw a young couple snoring half naked in a small alley too drunk to finish what they started, this had Anko laughing loudly. Naruto on the other hand was amazed at how some of the grown-ups in the village acted, luckily they hadn't encountered anyone they knew so far and he hoped it would stay that way. Leaving the business district they met up with Kurenai, who as always was waiting for them and together they continued their walk towards the grounds.

"Seriously, some people need to learn some restraint. " Kurenai said before sighing. "I had to yell three times before those party animals next door would shut up. I even considered using some of my crueler Genjutsu on them so they would be quiet."

"Now Kurenai, you can't blame them. After all, everyone was happy that someone like Tsunade is the new Hokage." Anko said.

"While I understand their feelings about our new Hokage, that's no reason to keep other people awake with drunken singing and yelling in the middle of the night." Kurenai said. It was clear to both Anko and Naruto that she hadn't slept very well and probably would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Just then, both Hinata and Kiba joined their little group and both of them looked well rested and eager to start training. So far everyone had been very enthusiastic with their new training schedule. Kiba immediately engaged Naruto in a conversation about the new jutsu he was learning from his sister. According to him it was quite impressive and would be his strongest jutsu so far but when Naruto asked what kind of jutsu Kiba refused to tell him saying that this was payback for all those times Naruto refused to say anything.

"Ha, now you know what it feels like to be left in the dark." Anko said to Naruto before grinning at him. Naruto just grinned back before sticking his tongue out at her.

"Careful Naruto-kun, you might trip and bite it off by accident and we wouldn't want that would we? That tongue is way too talented to lose." Anko said while winking at him. Of course the hidden message wasn't lost on Naruto and he turned bright red much to Anko's delight. He wasn't the only one who blushed though; Hinata was doing a very nice impression of a red pepper or tomato as well. Kiba just laughed loudly before he congratulated Naruto. Kurenai groaned at Anko's remark but said nothing knowing that it wouldn't help anyway.

Arriving at the ground they saw that the rest of the gang was already there and the genin were busy doing some warming up exercises so they wouldn't pull a muscle when Gai's training started. The genin were starting to get used to his training regiment and since they all did it together it was fun as well. That they had to endure Gai's speeches about 'youthfulness' was a minor inconvenience and by now they had learned to ignore him. The kids went off to their little corner to get ready while the Jounin sensei's discussed the program of the day. When they saw that the teams were ready they went over to them and explained what they would be doing today.

"Alright, like usual we'll start with strength, stamina and speed training with Gai." Kakashi said as he was the unofficial leader of the Jounin seeing he was the most experienced. "Then we'll divide into two groups, one for ninjutsu training and one for Genjutsu."

"Basically like always." Anko chipped in grinning.

"Yes Anko, like always. Well, what are you waiting for? Get moving!" Kakashi said sternly though they could hear the amusement in his voice.

"YOSH, FOLLOW ME MY YOUTHFULL STUDENTS. WE'LL START WITH 20 LAPS AROUND THE GROUNDS." Gai yelled loudly before flashing one of his trademark smiles showing his perfect white teeth.

When Gai's part was over most of the genin were exhausted. He had them doing laps, squats, pushups, sit-ups before they started on punching and kicking the training logs until they couldn't lift their arms. Kurenai for her part groaned as well as she knew that her half of the genin would be too tired to really pay attention to what she was saying. Therefore, she proposed a small break so they could rest a little. They eagerly accepted and they fell down on the soft grass so they could catch their breath. The girls sat together discussing girl business while the guy's just followed Shikamaru's example and closed their eyes to take a little nap. One blonde Chuunin however made his way over to Kakashi and started talking about jutsu and shinobi tactics.

Ino, Sakura, Hinata and TenTen were busy talking and laughing about things when the subject 'boys' came up. Like most teenagers their age they had started to get really interested in the opposite sex. They had gotten rid of their childish crushes and though none of them was ready to start a serious relationship yet, it couldn't hurt talking about it. Sakura, Ino and Hinata had been friends for a while and when Team Gai started training with them, TenTen was quickly accepted as another friend.

"So TenTen, do you have someone you like?" Sakura asked her friend.

"Not really. I admit that Neji is attractive and he has changed a lot since Hinata here cleaned his clock in the finals" This make Hinata smile and blush a little. "I don't think that he's interested in me. But that's fine; I'm too busy focusing on becoming a kunoichi right now." TenTen shrugged.

"What about you, Hinata?" Ino asked quickly before she was asked the same question.

"W-well, before I always liked Naruto-kun but I now realize that we wouldn't have worked out. " She said a little sad. "Naruto-kun is someone who needs a strong woman at his side and while I'm not the shy person I used to be I don't think I can be as strong as Anko-sensei is." She said while looking at Naruto.

"Do you still like him?" TenTen asked softly.

"Not really. I think of Naruto-kun as someone who's capable of inspiring me. I don't like him in a romantic way anymore but he's still one of my most precious people. He's the one who forced me to change and for that I'll be eternally grateful to him." Hinata said with a smile. The four girls then looked at Naruto, who had taken off his jacket leaving him in his sleeveless shirt showing his muscled arms and chest. Naruto wasn't build like a bodybuilder but more like an athlete or a swimmer having a toned body from exercising.

"He's so different from what he used to be in the academy. I'll never forget those orange monstrosities he called clothes." Ino said chuckling. "He has become quite the catch hasn't he?"

"True, he's not the same boy anymore. He's strong, friendly and handsome. Not to mention he's the Yondaime's son to boot." TenTen whispered.

"Yeah, if he wasn't taken I wouldn't mind being with him." Ino said with a blush on her face.

"Ino, don't bother thinking about that. Naruto-kun and Anko-sensei are made for each other. They understand each other so well that neither of them would ever think of falling in love for someone else. I wouldn't say they're perfect for each other but I think they're close." Hinata said confidently.

Ino nodded before they started comparing the rest of the boy against each other while laughing loudly. Anko and Kurenai were sitting a bit further but they had heard most of the discussion. They chose not to get involved as they wanted the girls to get to know each other. And what better way to achieve that than by gossiping about their friends. Anko wasn't worried about the girls liking Naruto as she knew that Naruto would never leave her but that didn't mean she couldn't tease or embarrass them a bit about it. She winked at Kurenai and got up to join the girl's discussion. Kurenai just chuckled at her friend knowing that Anko couldn't help but like to tease people.

"Alright girls, are you ready to continue the training?" Anko said clapping in her hand to get the girls attention. "Or do you want to keep leering at the boys?"

This was enough to make the four of them blush like crazy knowing that they were caught. Anko laughed loudly before sitting down next to them. She then proceeded to tell them that there was nothing wrong with being interested in boys and that it was only natural at their age. Kurenai joined them as well and soon the six of them were talking about the facts of life. Kurenai and Anko had taken upon themselves to ensure that the girls understood that while it was okay to like boys, it wasn't okay to neglect their training since as kunoichi the shinobi world was extremely dangerous. When Sakura asked what they meant Kurenai explained that enemy shinobi wouldn't hesitate to use them for their own personal pleasure if they got caught. It was a harsh comment and she saw that the girls were a bit shocked by the revelation.

"Does that happen a lot, Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura asked a bit afraid.

"It happens more than I would like to admit Sakura. But rest assured that Konoha doesn't participate in that kind of behavior." Kurenai said trying to reassure them. "Konoha forbids such treatment of kunoichi and to do so would result in being arrested and stripped of your shinobi status."

"However" Anko interrupted. "That doesn't mean other shinobi won't use such underhand tactics. Therefore it is imperative that you girls get strong enough to deal with such scumbags."

The girls looked at each other and nodded, each vowing to get strong and protect the others from ever having to deal with such an experience. Anko and Kurenai were happy to see that the girls seemed to understand what it meant to be a kunoichi. More than once had they seen women abused by men and suffice it to say that those men didn't live to see another day when they were through with them. Seeing that break time was almost over they told the girl to get ready and joined the other Jounin sensei.

Gai was asking Kakashi for another challenge but was ignored by the Sharingan wielder shinobi in favor for his book. Gai complained loudly before he seemed to remember something important. He looked at the position of the sun and saw that it was close to being 8 am. When the rest of the sensei saw Gai's behavior, they asked him what was wrong.

"Tsunade-sama told me last night that she wants to examine Lee's condition today so she could start on treating him as soon as possible. I promised Lee that I would accompany him." Gai said.

The rest of the genin who had heard Gai told him to tell Lee that they were all behind him and that they were waiting for him to join them as soon as possible. This of course made Gai yelled out about their 'youthfulness' and their 'power of youth' before he bid his goodbye.

In his home Lee was waiting for his role model who had promised to join him for the examination. Truthfully, Lee was terrified to hear the results from Tsunade. While she had said that she would be capable of curing him he was still worried. His back and legs were still hurting if he made too sudden movements. Gaara truly had inflicted some serious damage to his body. More than once Lee thought back about his fight with the Suna-nin, thinking about how he had fought with all his strength and how he still had lost. To Lee Taijutsu was everything as he was incapable of using Ninjutsu or Genjutsu thanks to his condition. For years, people told him that becoming a shinobi with only Taijutsu was impossible and that it was better for him to quit. It was only when he met Gai-sensei that he found someone that believed in him. When he started training with his team Lee quickly saw that Gai-sensei was an amazing shinobi capable of defeating everyone with his Taijutsu so naturally he was very excited when he got to learn his sensei's Taijutsu style. Day after day, he trained as hard as he could, he pushed himself beyond his limits and it had paid off nicely. His Taijutsu was without a doubt the best of all his peers.

When he saw Naruto fight his adversary during the preliminary's by using an unknown Taijutsu style he was amazed to hear that Naruto had somewhat created his own style by mixing two other styles into one. His respect for the blonde shinobi went up several notches and he could see that Naruto was proficient with his own style. Although he knew that he could beat Naruto in Taijutsu it was nothing but amazing to watch him fight. By the time, his own fight was finally decided Lee had been so pumped up that he almost jumped up and down in place. He was eager to show everyone that he too could be a powerful shinobi by just using Taijutsu, he wanted to proof to them and to himself that he could make it and more than anything he wanted to make his sensei proud. When he woke up after the fight, he was so disillusioned and disappoint in himself until Gai had told him how proud he was of his student. This was one of the happiest moments in Lee's life but it all came crashing down on him when he heard how much damage his body had taken and that his career as shinobi was most likely over.

When Naruto had brought back Tsunade, who according to Gai-sensei, could cure any wound or injury Lee had been ecstatic. Once more, he regained hope that he could continue his dream and when she examined him she had told him that at first glance she would be able to cure him but that it would take a lot of effort and time. She made him promise that he would take it easy for the next few days and that then she would do an in depth examination. Today she would determine if she could cure him and it scared the hell out of him.

"LEE, MY YOUTHFUL PUPIL IT IS TIME TO CHECK UP ON THE YOUTHFULNESS OF YOUR YOUTHFUL BODY." Gai's voice boomed from outside. Lee smiled and grabbed his crutches and slowly made his way outside.

"Good morning Gai-sensei." Lee said respectfully.

Gai nodded and helped his young student along the way to the hospital where Tsunade would give him his checkup. On the way Gai transmitted the genins message and he smiled when Lee seemed to cheer up knowing that his friends were rooting for him. It made him smile a little and he vowed to rejoin them as soon as possible. When they reached the hospital Gai inquired if Tsunade was already there and the lady at the reception told him that she was waiting in examination room 9. He thanked her of her youthful answer confusing her to no end.

"Let's go Lee." Gai said in a much quieter voice than usual. He had long ago learned that shouting in the hospital was frowned upon so he tried to restrain himself.

After knocking on the door they went inside and saw both Tsunade and Shizune waiting for them. After greeting both women and once again thanking them for all the trouble Lee stepped forward and sat down on the chair in front of Tsunade. When she asked him he pulled of his shirt allowing her to use her medical jutsu to examine the injuries his back had suffered. While Tsunade was doing that Shizune was asking questions to Lee, not only to distract him a little but also to find out if he had any other pains or problems. Tsunade had finished with checking his back so now they were looking at his leg, which had suffered some damage as well from Gaara's attack. When she was done, she told Lee to get dressed again and to follow her into a private office.

"Alright kid, sit down and I'll explain what I've found." Tsunade said while she sat down as well. "Gai, you sit down as well and don't interrupt me until I'm done."

"Tsunade-sama, do you have any further need of me?" Shizune asked.

"No Shizune, you can continue your regular duties." Tsunade said shaking her head. "Now, first let me tell you that you're injuries are considerable. Let us start with your leg first. While the injury in your leg is serious, I will have no problem curing it. It will take some time before you'll have you mobility back but with careful training your leg will be fine." Lee was feeling very happy that Tsunade would be able to help him recover.

"However, the problem is your back. I'll be perfectly honest with you Lee, that injury is most likely beyond my capabilities." Tsunade said softly. She hated this part of being a medic Nin, bringing such devastating news to one so young was something she would never get used to. She saw Lee's face change from happy to miserable.

"T-Tsunade-sama, surely there must be a way to cure Lee?" Gai was horrified.

"Let me explain why this injury is so serious. Lee, your spine has suffered a tremendous blow and some bone fragments have nestled them very closely to your nerves centre. While I possibly could remove those fragments there's a pretty big chance the nerves in your spine will get severed." Tsunade tried to show both Lee and Gai by using a picture of Lee's injury.

"Tsunade-sama, what would happen if those nerves get severed?" Lee asked although he could guess the answer.

"You could be paralyzed at the least or die at the worst." Tsunade said softly.

"What is my survival rate?" Lee asked again.

"I would have to say that the chance of success is about fifty-fifty." Tsunade answered looking straight at the genin. She could see the determination in his eyes and sighed. She wondered what this generation was all about. First Naruto, who managed to convince her to become Hokage and now this kid, who would take a serious risk just to continue being a shinobi.

"Then I humbly request that you perform this operation." Lee said falling on his knees.

"Why? Why are you risking your life? You could become anything you want and live a long time even with this injury. In time it will heal and you wouldn't hurt at all." Tsunade asked Lee.

"Because becoming a shinobi is my dream. I want to prove that I can be a great shinobi by just using Taijutsu. If I'm not willing to risk my life for my dream then I'm not worthy of living." Lee said passionately.

"WELL SAID LEE. TSUNADE-SAMA, PLEASE HELP MY STUDENT." Gai exclaimed kneeling before her next to his favorite student.

"Please don't shout inside the hospital." Tsunade sighed. "Very well Lee, if you're willing to put your life on the line for your dream then I'm willing to take the risk as well." Tsunade said smiling.

"T-Thank you Tsunade-sama." Lee said while tears ran down his cheeks.

"We'll do some extra tests and then we'll decide when to operate on you. Is that okay?" she said.

"Hai Tsunade-sama." Lee nodded.

"Good, now I want you to take it easy for the next few days. This means no training what so ever, is that understood?" she said sternly getting a nod from Lee and Gai. "Meet me here tomorrow at nine and then we'll get started."

At the training grounds Naruto was practicing with his sword as this was one of the areas he wanted to improve on. Granted he had some devastating techniques but his overall knowledge of Kenjutsu wasn't that great. It wasn't that he wanted to become a Kenjutsu master but he wanted to reach a certain level of competence with using his sword. TenTen, who was watching as Naruto unsheathed his sword, was practically drooling at how his sword was stored in a 10 inch sheath. She had seen him use his sword at the Chuunin exams against Gaara and she had been very impressed with it. She remembered that she wanted to ask where he had gotten such a beautiful sword but with the invasion and everything that happened afterwards she didn't have the time yet. When she saw him move through what she believed to be kata's he made on his own she saw that he was fairly talented. She slowly approached him while unsealing her own katana from the large scroll she always carried around.

"Hey Naruto, do you mind if I join you?" TenTen asked making Naruto stop for a second to look at her.

"Ah TenTen-chan, you use a sword as well?" Naruto asked a bit surprised. He had seen her fight at the preliminaries and guessed that she used long range attacks judging by how she primarily used kunai and shuriken.

"Well, I do aim to be a weapons mistress so I kind of need to be able to handle a lot of weapons." She answered with a smile. Naruto nodded and went over to talk to her a bit.

"It's just that I've never seen you using a sword before so I assumed you were focusing on long ranged attacks." He said while looking at the katana in her hands.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." TenTen said wanting to tease him a little. She almost laughed out loud when he handed her his sword blushing like crazy. When she inspected Naruto's sword she was amazed at how good it felt in her hands. It was perfectly balanced and the edge of the blade looked like it could cut through anything. It wasn't decorated with a design on the hilt but it was magnificent in its simplicity. She did notice some carvings on the blade itself and she wondered what their meanings were, she would have to ask him later on. She handed his sword back and he sheathed it seeing she had some questions about it.

"It's a piece of beauty, Naruto. Where did you get it?" TenTen asked interested.

"Would you believe me, if I said that I forged it myself?" Naruto smirked.

"NO WAY! Do you really expect me to believe that?" TenTen exclaimed loudly alerting the other of their conversation. Anko told the rest of them to keep working while she joined the two youngsters in their conversation.

"Believe it or not TenTen, its true. Naruto-kun forged it while we were training in the Forest of Death." Anko said confirming Naruto's claim. "He also made these for me." She then took out one of the throwing knives and showed it to her. TenTen took it from her and inspected it just as closely as she did with Naruto's sword. Just like the sword its balance was amazing and she handed it back to Anko who carefully stored it back into its place.

"I'm sorry I didn't believe you Naruto. It just seemed so unbelievable that you are capable of forging such amazing weapons." TenTen apologized to Naruto.

"Heh, don't worry about that TenTen-chan. I'm still not sure how I managed to do so in the first place." Naruto smiled at her.

"Does your sword have a name?" TenTen asked now truly interested in Naruto's skills.

"A name? Why does it need a name?" Naruto said while wondering what good a name would do.

"Naruto, a sword like this needs a name. A sword isn't just a weapon you know. It's an extension of your body, its part of you just like you arms or legs." TenTen started to explain. "If you look at the swords of the great swordmasters in the world you'll notice that their swords all have a name."

"Ah you mean like how Zabuza called his sword 'Kubikiri Hocho'?" Naruto said loudly. He wished he didn't because TenTen grabbed him by his shoulders looking very excited.

"What was that name? Say that name again." She yelled while shaking Naruto back and forth.

"Kubikiri Hocho. Kubikiri Hocho." Naruto managed to say. TenTen couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Are you saying you encountered one of the most legendary swords in the shinobi world? A sword used by one of the 'Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū'!" TenTen all but yelled.

"TenTen calm down will you." Anko said. "If you stop shaking Naruto like that he'll be able to answer you."

This made TenTen snap out of it and she quickly apologized again. When his head stopped spinning Naruto started to tell her about how they had encountered Zabuza in Wave and how they had fought against each other. TenTen was listening with a bit of envy as she had always dreamed to meet one of the seven most famous swordmasters around. When she heard that Naruto and Anko defeated Zabuza she immediately asked what had happened to the sword. This made Naruto and Anko cringe a bit knowing that the destruction of a sword like that would be unpleasant news to someone like TenTen.

"It was destroyed during battle. I'm sorry." Naruto said a bit ashamed that he had been the one to destroy it.

"Destroyed? How is that even possible? Those swords are rumored to be the strongest swords in existence." TenTen stated perplexed.

"It got cracked by one of Naruto-kun's attacks. When he used an even stronger attack it completely broke into pieces." Anko told her.

"HOLY SHIT!" TenTen yelled loudly before she clasped both hands on her mouth. Naruto and Anko laughed loudly at TenTen's embarrassment.

It took both of them to calm TenTen down to a level where she could listen to Naruto's explanation of how it happened exactly. TenTen couldn't believe what she was hearing. A genin had destroyed a world renowned sword with a sword that he had forged himself. She briefly wondered if he was pulling her leg and would suddenly tell her that he had been joking but seeing their faces she knew it was all true.

"Well, while I'm a bit sad that such a sword got destroyed I understand that you didn't have a choice at that time. I'm not mad at you Naruto; as a matter of fact I'm amazed at your skill." TenTen admitted.

Naruto was glad his friend didn't really blame him for destroying the Kubikiri Hocho. He certainly could understand why she was a bit mad, knowing that she admired it so much. He nodded at her before unsheathing his sword once more. He then told her that he would think about a name for his sword before he asked TenTen if she would help him with his Kenjutsu to which she happily agreed to. She told him that she didn't have many opportunities to spar using Kenjutsu. Naruto promised her that if she wanted to spar with him, all she had to do was ask. So for the rest of morning both of them were sparring together both enjoying having someone to practice with.

On the other side of town Tsunade and the former Sandaime were walking through the village on their way to a certain storeowner. Now that she was officially the Godaime Hokage she could start on those ideas she had together with Naruto. She was kind of looking forward to see the council's reaction to the changes. No doubt a lot of yelling and protesting would be involved. But this was something she needed to do in her opinion; she would have to show them that she meant business and that she wouldn't let anyone walk over her just because she was a woman. She followed her sensei inside the shop and together they went over to the counter. The man behind it was reading some magazine about the latest weapons available throughout the shinobi world. When he saw who it was he quickly put the magazine away and greeted the duo.

"Good morning Godaime-sama, Sandaime-sama." Hideki greeted them.

"Good morning Hideki-san, there's no need to address me with that title anymore." Sarutobi said with a smile.

"As for me, Tsunade will do as well." Tsunade said; she remembered the man from when she was still a student under Sarutobi-sensei.

"Thank you Tsunade-sama, Sarutobi-san. Now what can I do for the both of you?" Hideki asked curiously before guiding them inside his house and offering some tea.

"Straight to the point I like that. Very well, I'm here to ask for your assistance into a certain matter." Tsunade said before she started to explain what she wanted to deal with the civilian council. When he heard that she wanted him to become head of that council he was very surprised. He couldn't help but ask why she asked him for such a position; surely there was someone who was more qualified then he was.

"I'm asking you because you came highly recommend by Sensei here and Namikaze Naruto." Tsunade explained. "I trust Sensei with my life and I know he wouldn't recommend you if he didn't have the utmost confidence in you. And Naruto is an excellent judge of character so I know you're someone who I can trust as well."

"Naruto said that? That boy keeps surprising me every time I see or hear him." Hideki chuckled making Sarutobi smile as well.

"You don't have to give me your answer right away but I would like to know as soon as possible." Tsunade said while standing up.

"No need Tsunade-sama; I'll give you my answer right now. I accept your offer, Hokage-sama. I would be my honor to serve you and my village once more. Besides if both Sarutobi-san and Naruto-kun believe in me then I can't disappoint them can I?" Hideki respectfully answered.

"Thank you, Hideki-san. Please join me later tonight for the council meeting. I'll make your appointment official then." Tsunade said gratefully.

After saying goodbye Tsunade and Sarutobi made their way back to the tower to prepare for the meeting later that day. Both knew it would be a heated meeting so they needed to be prepared for anything. Tsunade briefly wondered if she should invite Naruto so he could explain his ideas to the council in person but decided against it in the end. It would be bad enough as it is so there was no need to make it worse. She knew that while a lot of people had started to accept Naruto, there were still some people who hated him with a passion. When they arrived in her office they immediately started checking up on the Shodaime's laws to make sure everything she did was justified and correct.

After an afternoon of browsing through several books and writing down some information Tsunade, Sarutobi and Hideki were making their way to the council chambers. Each of them was dressed in their best attire so that they would impress the rest of the council. Politics were not only about knowledge and power but also about prestige and presence. The ability to impress others was a valuable skill to have for a politician. Tsunade opened the doors and with her head held high but without any sign of arrogance she went inside and took her place on the Hokage's chair. Both Sarutobi and Hideki took positions standing next to her.

"Members of the council, I thank you for joining me today. We have a lot of work to do, so I'll get straight to the point." Tsunade said with authority. "I'm hereby opening the first council meeting under the rule of the Godaime Hokage. However, this meeting is special as I will explain some change that both civilian and shinobi council will undergo."

"What do you mean by changes, Hokage-sama?" Hyuuga Hiashi said voicing the question everyone wanted to ask.

"I'm glad you ask Hyuuga-san. But before that I would like to address some problems with the current councils." Tsunade smirked before leaving her seat and walking to the middle of the floor just in front of the seated council members.

"It has come to my attention that some of you think your position of council member allows you to gain power and to enrich yourself or your clan. I would like to rectify that belief." Tsunade said with conviction. "Let me make one thing absolutely clear; the council's job is to assist the Hokage in running the village. In no way is the council to take any decisions without the approval of the Hokage. While Sarutobi sensei may have been kind enough to allow some transgression; I will not. Do not take me for a weak woman who will let herself be pushed around. When I accepted the position of Hokage I swore to protect this village from any threats, be it from outside or inside the village."

This made a few council members feel a little uneasy knowing that Tsunade knew exactly who she was talking about. They would have to make sure that she couldn't find out if they went behind her back. With Sarutobi they had some leeway as he was an old man and he needed the council to run the village. He was too old and tired to go toe to toe with the council on such small matters but it seemed Tsunade would do everything in her power to make sure they were unable to go behind her back.

"Now that I have made it clear that I won't tolerate such behavior I would like to express my gratitude to those who have served this council and our village with honesty and good intentions. Your work and efforts are very much appreciated." Tsunade said before giving them a slight bow. "Alright, let me explain some of the changes I want this council to undergo."

Tsunade then proceed to tell both councils that as of this moment they would have a head who would only answer to her. This person would be the Hokage's representation in everything and would listen to the proposals made by the council. The head of each council will take care of meetings and would report to the Hokage once a week and together they would decide what got approved or what got disapproved. They would have the power to decide on minor things but urgent and important decisions would be made by the Hokage. When she finished explaining the council was in uproar and it took several minutes before they calmed down enough to allow some questions.

"Hokage-sama, who would be the head of each council?" The head of the Nara clan asked.

"Good question Nara-san. Let me introduce to you all the head of the civilian council." Tsunade then motioned Hideki to come forward. "I'm sure most of you recognize Hideki-san. For those of you who don't know him; this is Masohiro Hideki. He's a retired shinobi who fought alongside Sarutobi-sensei many years ago and has accepted to serve his village once more." Hideki bowed deeply to the members of both councils and was glad to see that many of them had recognized him.

"For the shinobi council I have asked Sarutobi-sensei to take the position of Head of the council." She said and Sarutobi took a step forward. For the most part the shinobi council was glad when they heard that their former hokage would be their Head.

"This is preposterous!" One shinobi council member exclaimed. When Tsunade looked who it was she saw that it was none other than Danzo. She remembered what Sarutobi had told her about the man. He was an old warhawk who had competed with him for the position of Hokage and who was known for his violent and aggressive way of thinking.

"You do not have the authority to implement these changes." Danzo yelled loudly.

"That's where you are wrong Danzo-san." No matter is she disliked the man she still had to be polite. "It is written in the Shodaime's law book that and I quote 'When a new Hokage is appointed he or she has to power to form the council as they see fit. The council cannot be disbanded but its composition and workings can be adapted to the current Hokage's whishes.' End quote."

Danzo was furious when he heard about that law. He hadn't known there was such a law in existence; after all he didn't have access to those books as only the Hokage was allowed to see them. This was a major problem for his operations; if Tsunade found out about his Root division she would certainly have his head. He would have to be very careful around her he realized. He had hoped that he could influence her and guide her to his views but it seemed that it wasn't meant to be. Curse that Sarutobi for choosing her as his successor.

"You cannot just come in here and change everything just because you feel like it." Danzo spat.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I can and I just did." Tsunade smirked. "Take it or leave it."

"You're just a foolish woman who thinks she's capable of being Hokage." Danzo said before he realized he said it out loud. The rest of the council gasped at his words and move away from him.

Before he could react Danzo was slammed into the wall by Tsunade who had a firm grip on his neck. The pain he felt from being slammed into the wall was nothing compared to the pain he felt in his neck. Tsunade truly had amazing strength and she wasn't afraid to use it. She knew that she had to show them that she wasn't someone to mess around with. If she let this kind of insult pass without reaction the rest of the council would think she was all talk and no action. This was something she couldn't afford hence why she had Danzo up against the wall.

"You listen to me, you little war mongrel. I don't care if you don't like me as your Hokage but you will show me the necessary respect that comes with this title." Tsunade said loudly. "If you ever disrespect me or the title of Hokage again you'll regret it."

"Is that a threat?" Danzo managed to say.

"No, it's a promise. If I find that you went behind my back or did anything that could endanger Konoha I'll have you executed for treason. Is that clear?" she all but shouted while putting a little more pressure on his neck. Danzo could only nod his agreement and when she released him he slumped to the floor gasping for air. He had been a fool to question her in front of the other council members. She had used him to show the rest of them that she meant business and at the same time she had humiliated him in front of everybody. It sucked to be him at this moment.

Looking at the time Tsunade then dismissed the civilian part of the council as the rest of the meeting was about shinobi business. They protested at first seeing that they used to stay during those parts as well but one look from a pissed off Tsunade convinced them otherwise. Hideki asked the members of the council to meet him in a meeting room at nine the following day so he could explain everything in details. He then bid Tsunade, Sarutobi and the shinobi council a good night before he went home as well.

"Let us move on with the meeting. The following thing that I would like to discuss with all of you is the curriculum at the shinobi academy." Tsunade said before sitting down again. She hoped that things could be discussed in a peaceful matter without the shouting and yelling like before. She then started to explain her ideas and what she wanted to achieve with those changes. A lot of the shinobi present were very positive about the ideas and seemed to be very excited. When she was done explaining she opened the floor for questions.

"Tsunade-sama, I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say that those are excellent ideas but won't it take a lot of time and money to change everything." Hiashi remarked.

"That is why I propose to have a gradual change over the next few years. I thought that we could start with having the fourth year students completing some D-rank missions and see what the result would be." Tsunade agreed.

"But who would supervise them? The academy doesn't have enough teachers to provide each team with a supervisor." Another member called out.

"That is true. But Sarutobi-sensei and I already have a solution for this problem. We asked several of our retired shinobi if they would be willing to guide a team during their D-rank missions." Tsunade explained. "Most of them were willing to do so and they also agreed to give them some training and advice during those missions."

"Of course, their experience is a valuable source of training and guidance." The Aburame council member said.

"Hokage-sama, forgive me if this sounds somewhat disrespectful. I assure you that I mean no disrespect but did you come up with these ideas on your own?" Inoichi Yamanaka asked.

"No need to apologize Yamanaka-san. The answer to your question is no, I did not come up with these ideas. As a matter of fact none of these ideas are mine." Tsunade answered shocking most of the council.

"Then who came up with these ideas if I may ask?" Inoichi said.

"Each and every one of these ideas was given to me by Namikaze Naruto. He told me that these were some of the things he would change when he became Hokage." Tsunade said proudly. Both she and Sarutobi were glad to see that most of the members looked very impressed and that almost none of them had any negative reactions to Naruto. It was proof of how much Naruto had impressed them over the past few months.

"Then I would like to propose to name the reforms as the 'Namikaze reforms'." Hiashi said with a smile. When he heard from Hinata that it was thanks to Naruto that she managed to become strong he had a lot of gratitude and respect for the young shinobi. The other council members seemed to agree with Hiashi and Tsunade had no problem to accept it as well. She wondered how the gaki would react when he heard about it. For the rest of the meeting they talked about how and when they would start the changes and who would be responsible for overseeing everything. It was late at night when everything was finally decided and the council members left for their home. Tsunade and Sarutobi went to her office so they could have a drink on the success of the first meeting.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" Sarutobi said while bringing the sake saucer to his mouth.

"I guess it could have gone much worse. I didn't expect Danzo to make such a mistake though." Tsunade agreed.

"Yes, that was unsuspected. But you did a good job on setting him straight." Sarutobi said chuckling at the memory of Danzo being slammed into the wall.

"I just hope he doesn't try anything. "Tsunade sighed.

"Don't worry about it for now. Focus on running the village and we'll deal with him when the time is right." Her sensei said.

After talking a bit longer and enjoying the taste of sake both of them went home in search of some much needed sleep. The last few days had been tiring for both of them. The last thing that went through Tsunade's mind before she fell asleep was asking Dan and Nawaki if they were proud of her and a promise to protect the village as best as she could.

* * *

Well, how was it? I hope I made Tsunade look like she was serious about being Hokage and that she wouldn't take crap from anyone. I thought that in the manga Tsunade was a little too soft some times. I mean Yamato shows her that Danzo gave Orochimaru detailed information about the Anbu and all she does is change the codes. Of course maybe she's gathering information or something like that, we don't know but still. This counts as treason so he should be executed on the spot in my eyes.

Anyway the next chapter will be released on Sunday 21th of September. See you all then and have a good two weeks.


	30. Chapter 30: No place like home

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of my story. Not much to say about the last two weeks (been busy looking for a nicer place to stay and I think I might have hit the jackpot), other than that everything is going fine right now. So let's keep our fingers crossed shall we.

Without any further delay I present you chapter 30. Let me know how I did.

* * *

Chapter 30: No place like home

"Please sign here, here and here." The lady at the front desk said with a smile. So far the day had been going very well and in her opinion if the morning went well the rest of the day would be a breeze. So when young Uchiha Sasuke came to get released from the hospital she was only too happy to help.

Sasuke mumbled a 'Thank you' before signing the necessary forms and left the hospital as fast as he could. He been there for way to long for his liking, if it was up to him he would have left a few days ago but he was closely watched by the Medic Nin's. Now however he was free and he could start training again. After being defeated so easily by his brother he knew that he couldn't afford to lose any more time. He remembered Kakashi saying that he was to join the rest of the genin at the training grounds when he was released. So with high expectations he dropped by his place to get a fresh set of clothes and his shinobi equipment before heading to the grounds.

When he approached the grounds he could hear the sounds of people training and practicing so he didn't have to look very long to find them. He had hoped to be able to observe them a bit but that plan went out the window when Kakashi turned around and called him over. Annoyed he joined Kakashi and the other Jounin sensei.

"Ah Sasuke, welcome back." Kakashi said while closing his orange book. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine I guess." Sasuke said while looking at the genin training.

"Good, it seems you're eager to join them. That's good but first I'll explain how things work around here." Kakashi said. The other Jounin sensei let Kakashi do the talking as he was Sasuke's squat leader anyway. Kakashi told him about how the morning was scheduled and what kind of training he would be doing. Also he once again warned Sasuke not to use the Sharingan on his teammates. Sasuke nodded his understanding but his displeasure was written all over his face.

Kakashi then called a little break so Sasuke could get reintegrated in the group. The other genin who were glad to get a little break saw Sasuke standing there and yelled at him to come over to them. They had promised that they would give him a chance to prove himself. It took a lot of convincing for some of them but in the end they agreed that he deserved a chance. He was after all a fellow Konoha shinobi and therefore they would have to learn to work with each other. Sasuke walked over to the group feeling a bit out of place but he ignored the feeling.

"Hey Sasuke, it's good to see you in good health again." Naruto said trying to break the ice a bit. "I hope you're ready to get some serious training done because Gai sensei is one heck of a slave driver."

"I guess so." Sasuke said shrugging.

Naruto sighed inwardly. It seemed that getting Sasuke to be one of the gang would be a lot harder than he had expected. The boy seemed hell bent on shutting everyone out of his live and this made it very difficult for others to become friends with him. He hoped that he would come around in time. He shrugged and started talking to rest of the team about their training hoping they would help involve Sasuke into the conversation. When they came onto the subject of Akatsuki Sasuke seemed to get some interest and he listened closely.

"What is this Akatsuki you're all talking about?" He asked out of the blue.

Naruto and the rest then explained what Akatsuki was all about and that they didn't really know their goal. They did tell him that they were being trained to defeat them once they were ready. They wisely refrained from saying anything about Uchiha Itachi knowing that it was a very sore subject for Sasuke. He nodded when they finished their explanation and he thought it over in his head. Apparently this organization was made up out of Nukenin and one of them was his brother just like Kakashi had said. He guessed he could work with the rest of them if they didn't slow him down too much.

After the break was over Kakashi and the other Jounin divided them into groups so they could get started on the next part of the training. Kakashi took his group and went to the other side of the grounds so they wouldn't disturb the others with their Ninjutsu training. He asked them who had mastered the 'Shunshin no Jutsu' and who still needed to work on it. Chouji and Ino still required some practice while Sakura wanted to make sure she mastered it before starting on a other jutsu. Sasuke who didn't know the jutsu stepped forward as well. Kakashi nodded and told them to wait for a moment so he could explain the next jutsu to the rest.

"Okay, the next jutsu is the 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu'." Kakashi said showing the handseals and demonstrating the jutsu. He watched as the genin were trying the handseals in slow motion before trying the jutsu itself.

"Sensei, I already know this jutsu. Is it okay if I practice my Kenjutsu?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi just nodded and made his way over to Chouji, Ino, Sakura and Sasuke. After showing them the seals he helped them where they needed it. Sasuke was a bit peeved that he didn't know such a useful jutsu yet but vowed to catch up with the rest of them. Even Sakura and Ino had beaten him with this jutsu and that was something he couldn't allow. So for the rest of the time he performed the jutsu again and again until he got it right. Every once in a while he would glance over to Naruto and a slight scowl appeared on his face.

When it was time to switch groups he sat down next to Shino. The bug user was one of the genin he could tolerate most of all. The boy was silent and efficient, all qualities he could appreciate in a person. As Kurenai started her lesson on Genjutsu he cursed once again that he couldn't use his Sharingan. His bloodline limit allowed him to create and see through Genjutsu with ease so this lesson was a waste of time. Still he listened and paid attention hoping that he would learn something useful. The woman in front of him was known as the 'Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress' after all.

Two hours later Kurenai ended her lesson and told them that she would see them again tomorrow. For the rest of the day they would either have team training or some missions. The genins thanked her for the lesson and went to rejoin the rest of the gang. It had become somewhat an unspoken rule that they all had lunch together and even the Jounin sensei joined them as well. Sasuke however just asked Kakashi when and where to meet for the next part and left to get some food.

"Why doesn't he eat with us? Are we not good enough for him?" Kiba asked a bit mad.

"Relax Kiba, you can't expect him to change that fast. Sasuke has always been a loner so that won't change so fast. Give it some time." Kakashi said from behind his book.

Lunch was an enjoyable time for all of them as the genin talked about new techniques they had learned or missions they had done while the Jounin Sensei talked about more of the grownup subjects like the training they were going to give to their students or what was happening in the village. Of course for some of the boys lunch break took too long and they amused themselves with some light sparring and training while the girls continued talking and resting for a bit. After that the teams split up and each team joined their sensei for team practice or to complete a mission. Today Kurenai and Anko were planning some training in stealth and tracking so the team had to track down both women in a predetermined number of hours. Suffice to say that when Anko threatened them with using them as targets if they failed the four genin were pretty motivated.

* * *

Several hours later Anko and Kurenai grinned at the exhausted four lying on the ground trying to catch their breath. They had barely made it and had saved themselves the pain of being Anko's targets. Nonetheless, they had been pushed to their limits this time and the result was obvious. When they finally were able to stand up again Kurenai congratulated them on finding both her and Anko but told them that it took way too long for her liking. She wasn't disappointed or anything but she knew they could do much better and so she considered it her job to tell them just that. She then dismissed them wishing them a pleasant evening and each went their own way. Anko and Naruto locked hands and left the training grounds eager to get home.

"Ne Anko-chan, do you want to go check the house?" Naruto asked her.

Anko nodded knowing that Naruto was impatient to see his parent's house as he had never seen it before. At first she wanted to stay in her apartment but now she had some time to think about it she had to admit that living in a house sounded pretty nice. She was a bit worried about how Naruto would react when he saw the house but she was there with him in case he needed comforting. Naruto smiled and gave her kiss before they turned towards the district where the house was located. According to Sarutobi the house could be found in the middle class district of Konoha. This was because the Namikaze clan wasn't a big or rich clan like the Hyuuga or the Uchiha was or were. This didn't matter to Naruto or Anko as long as the house was in good shape. They walked in silence while greeting some of the people who recognized them along the way. The walk from the training ground to the house took about 15 minutes which was actually a bit closer than Anko's apartment but the house was a bit further located from the business district which had the market and most of the shops. Still it would only take a 5 minute walk to reach that so all things considered the house was very nicely located.

When they reached the house they saw that the house was actually surrounded by a large wall protecting the house from any intruders or unwanted guests. The gate was nothing fancy but it did the job it was supposed to do. Naruto remembered that he had the special key in his pocket and placed it inside the lock that kept the gate closed to anyone. According to Sarutobi the key was engraved with a special seal his dad had made; the lock wouldn't open for anything else and Naruto gladly believed that his father was capable of creating such a seal. He looked at Anko, who smiled and nodded as to encourage him; and he turned the key. He had barely touched it and the gate slowly opened up revealing the house.

Naruto gulped and felt Anko's hand grabbing his and waited for the house to become fully visible. Once the gate was open they stepped inside and watched how the gate seemed to close automatically behind them. They turned towards the house again and saw a two storied house that just seemed to invite them in. It wasn't the biggest house they had seen but it certainly wasn't small either. From the looks of it the house was big enough to fit in a large family. They walked on the small path that lead to the front door and looked at the small garden in the front. It was well kept and beautiful and Naruto told himself that he would thank Sandaime for caring about the house. The front door had a special lock just like the gate so Naruto took out his second key and placed it inside and opened the door.

When they stepped inside the house they found themselves in a hallway with several doors that would lead to the other rooms. Right in front of them was the stairway that leads to the second floor but they decided to check out the first floor first. At their right was a door that leads to a small bathroom with a toilet and a small washing table with a mirror. It was nothing special but it was nice and cozy. On their left they found the door to the living room and went inside. The living room was rectangular in shape and had a large sofa; big enough for four people, and a smaller one and between them was a low table that had a few decorative things placed on it. There was a long dresser alongside the wall and Naruto saw several pictures and photos on it. Slowly he walked over trying to catch every detail of the room and grabbed one of the pictures. It was a picture of three kids and a white-haired sensei standing behind them. Naruto recognized the blonde boy and knew this was his dad and his team from their genin days. The white-haired man behind them was undeniably Ero-sennin, even if he looked much younger. He put the picture back where he found it and grabbed the one next to it, this one was his dad and his own genin team and he saw a familiar face in the picture. It seemed Kakashi was born with that mask as he had already been wearing at such a young age. Naruto did briefly wonder who were the boy and girl in the picture but he guessed they had already died or left Konoha as he didn't know anyone that looked like them.

The next picture made him somewhat sad and happy at the same time. It was a picture of his mum and dad holding each other closely and for the first time Naruto saw what his mother looked like. He had always wanted to know what she looked like and now he knew. His mom had long fiery red hair and had the most beautiful smile on her face. She was wearing civilian clothes and she looked absolutely stunning. He couldn't blame his dad for falling in love with such a beauty. It was her eyes that captured Naruto's attention the most; they had the same look of mischief and unpredictability like he had and he felt good knowing he got this from his mom's side. Anko peered over his shoulders and looked at the picture.

"Your mom was beautiful Naruto-kun. She looks like an amazing person doesn't she?" Anko said while hugging Naruto. She could only imagine what Naruto must be feeling at the moment but she would do her best to comfort him.

Naruto just leaned into her embrace a bit before looking at the last picture. When he looked at it the tears sprang into his eyes and a small tear escaped. The picture showed a heavily pregnant Kushina sitting on a bench with her hands on her huge belly. Her head was on Minato's shoulder and he held her with love in his eyes. Naruto couldn't help himself and he let the tears run freely, this was the only picture where the three of them were together. Granted he wasn't born yet but he was there even if you couldn't see him. Anko gently took the picture out of his hands and guided him to the sofa where she sat down and hugged him letting him cry as much as he needed to. Naruto cried into her shoulder just like he did all those months ago in the forest when he first learned of his parents. A good ten minutes later he felt good enough to continue the tour but not before he told Anko how much he loved her.

The large living room also had a long table that could fit up to eight people. From the table you could look straight into the kitchen which was accessible from the room. There was a low wall that separated the kitchen and living room but no door. The wall marked the beginning of the kitchen that was equipped with everything a standard kitchen needed or had. There was a door that allowed you to go into the hallway and another door that leads to a small room for groceries and a freezer. The third door in the kitchen gave out on the garden which you could see from the kitchen windows.

They went back into to the hallway and went upstairs. From the stairs you had access to four doors. On the right you had two, one just in front and the last on the left. They took the door on the right first and went inside. The room was big but not too big and was painted with soft colors indicating that this would become Naruto's room when he was big enough to sleep alone. Naruto peered inside and saw a bunch of toys lying on the ground, a small bed which was way too big for a baby to sleep in but he guessed it was intended for later on. He sighed and took one of the toys in his hands. When he had been a kid he had always wanted a few toys to call his own. In the orphanage where he stayed all the toys belonged to everyone and as he wasn't well liked he always had to give up the toys he played with. He placed it back with the other toys and stepped outside of the room.

The second room was a small office or study with a several bookcases and a desk. Anko went over to the desk and took a look in the drawers but found that they were all empty. Naruto went over to the bookcases and found mostly books on history, politics and such things. One bookcase that had doors made out of glass however seemed to stand out and when he took a closer look he saw that there was a seal present. He immediately recognized the seal as a bloodseal just like the ones he had learned from his father's book. Wasting no time he bit his thumb and smeared a little blood on the seal. A small click alerted him that he could now open the doors. Anko too had come to take a look and she gasped when she saw a significant number of scrolls neatly stacked inside. Naruto grabbed one and saw that it was a jutsu scroll for a Doton technique called 'Doton: Chijou Yari'. He read the description and found out that the jutsu created a large number of spears that shot out of the ground upwards. He remembered the necessary handseals and told himself that he would practice it the next day.

"Naruto-kun, there are jutsu from every class here. From E-class jutsu to a few S-rank jutsu." Anko said amazed at the scrolls.

"We'll check on them later Anko-chan. Let's leave it for now." Naruto said feeling a little better. The thought of learning new jutsu seemed to cheer him up a little.

Naruto sealed the bookcase again and they left the office. The third door leads to a beautiful and stylish bathroom with a shower and bath. Both of them were big enough to fit two people and Anko seemed to like the thought very much. Other than that the room was empty of all other necessities. When he approached the last room however Naruto froze. This had to be his parents' room and he was dreading the emotional rollercoaster that he would experience when he opened the door.

"Naruto-kun, we don't need to do this right now. We can wait a little bit if you want." Anko said while holding his shaking hand.

"No, I need to do this. This is something that I have to do otherwise I'll never have the courage to try again." Naruto whispered.

He took hold of the handle and turned it before opening the door. He summoned all his courage and stepped inside with Anko closely following him. The room was big and spacious. There was a large bed and a large closet for what he guessed was his parent's clothes. He approached the bed and his hand trailed along the soft covers. On the night tables there was an alarm clock though it wasn't plugged. He opened the closet and to his surprise a large white cloak with red flames was hanged inside. With shaking hands he took the cloak and inspected it from close by.

"Your dad used to wear it when he fought and when he was working." Anko told him. She didn't really know the Yondaime as she was still pretty young but she had heard stories about him. Almost in every story he wore that cloak.

"It's beautiful." Naruto said while feeling the fabric of the cloak. He wanted to try it on but he resisted the feeling. He knew he wasn't nearly strong enough to earn the right to wear his father's cloak.

'One day I'll be strong enough to wear it. I promise Dad. I'll make you and mom proud.' Naruto silently thought. He then placed it back inside the closet and closed the door. He looked at the other side of the room and saw something that made him break down again. Anko turned to see what had happened and she too had tears from in the corners of her eyes. In the corner of the room stood a white crib; ready to be used at any time. Naruto fell on his knees before it and cried his heart out. Anko jumped towards him and fell on her knees next to him before she hugged him. She could help but start crying as well when she saw her lover in such emotional state. Together they cried for the loss of two amazing people, they cried for Naruto's childhood without his parents, they cried for Minato and Kushina who had to leave their little boy behind and they cried for the time they lost together.

It took Naruto almost an hour to calm down again and when he did he was exhausted. He felt like he had trained with Gai for days and his body was heavy and hurting. Still he felt better now that he had dealt with his emotions. He took Anko's hand and they went to the bathroom to get cleaned up a little bit. After they were presentable again they went downstairs to relax a bit in the garden in the back. It wasn't quite dark yet outside so they enjoyed the beauty of the Japanese styled garden. When they found the bench from the picture they sat down and started talking about moving into the house.

"I don't think it's a good idea to move in right away." Anko confessed.

"I know what you mean. I want to but it's so damn hard." Naruto said nodding.

"I have an idea." Anko said. "I propose that we stay at the apartment for now but that every once in a while we sleep here. That way we can get used to the place and the feeling of living here at our own pace."

"That's not a bad idea, Anko-chan." Naruto agreed. It would give him the time to make peace with his parent's death and getting used to this house.

In the end they decided to spend the weekend in the house while they stayed at the apartment during the week. Over the following months they would slowly move and by the time Naruto left with Jiraiya they would live here permanently. Naruto didn't want Anko to return to her apartment alone so she would live here. After they closed the gate they quickly returned home and had dinner. Both of them were tired and emotionally spend so they went to bed early.

* * *

When Anko and Naruto met up with Kurenai like they did every morning Kurenai seemed to notice that something was wrong with Naruto. He was quiet, withdrawn and seemed to be distracted by something. Even Kiba and his jokes weren't enough to make Naruto smile today which made Kiba frown as he told really good jokes. Anko didn't say anything until they reached the grounds and Naruto started doing his warming up exercises. She pulled the rest of the team to the sides and started explaining what had happened last night.

"So he's feeling a bit down because the two of you went to his house?" Hinata said feeling a bit sad for her friend.

"Yes but don't worry. He'll be fine; he just needs a little time to himself." Anko said while looking at her boyfriend stretching. "Just let him be and he'll talk about when he's ready."

The rest of genin arrived shortly after and Naruto used Gai's training to push the thoughts of his parent's home out of his mind for the time being. It worked very well as he had to keep pushing to break his limits and the atmosphere between the genin helped as well. He kept on going until he felt that he could go on no more. This in turn pushed the others to keep up with him and he smiled a bit for the first time that day. When they were ready he and his friends would be a force to be reckoned with; of that he was sure.

While the other were still practicing the 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu' he separated a bit from them so he wouldn't bother them when he tried the jutsu he had read about in his father's office. He remembered the handseals and like most Doton jutsu he needed to slam his hands onto the ground. He focused his chakra and his hands made the seals before his exclaimed 'Doton: Chijou Yari'. Unfortunately he seemed to have used way too much chakra and the area just exploded with spears made of earth.

The others felt his chakra spike and most of them looked on in shock as he performed the jutsu. Luckily he had taken some distance as the attack spread over a large area. Kakashi seemed to recognize the jutsu from during the war with Iwa and went over to help Naruto out but first he ordered the other to continue their training.

"Nice work Naruto but it seems you misjudged the necessary amount of chakra needed for that jutsu." Kakashi complimented Naruto.

"Oh hey Kakashi-sensei, yeah I just wanted to try it. I read about it last night in one of the scrolls I found in my dad's office." Naruto said sheepishly.

"I see, so you've visit the house then?" Kakashi asked him.

"Yeah, wasn't easy but we made it through." Naruto said a little down.

"I have some good memories about that place." Kakashi said before he sat next to Naruto. "I've been there a couple of times before you were born. Your mom loved that house; she used to tell me that once you were born she would have everything she had ever dreamed of."

"Anko-chan and I like the place as well but for the moment it's too hard to actually live there." He said sighing. "Maybe after a while things will get better and we can move from her apartment to the house."

"Don't worry about it Naruto. Take your time; there's no need to rush things." Kakashi told him before getting up. "Good work on the jutsu but try to fine-tune it a bit. You wouldn't want to harm your allies as well as your enemies if you used it."

When it was their turn to work with Kurenai the group called out for Naruto and he quickly joined them. Genjutsu really was a pain in the butt for him. While he had good chakra control and definitely had the necessary brainpower to create Genjutsu he just couldn't do it properly. He was able to recognize and dispel them easy enough but using them seemed almost impossible for him. He and Kurenai had discussed the problem before and she guessed that because of the bit of Kyuubi's chakra that was mixed with his own chakra it was just too chaotic or unstable to use. This didn't stop him from learning and listening to everything Kurenai taught them.

A few others like Sakura, Ino and Hinata seemed to be able to create small Genjutsu but seeing as none of them were trying to be a Genjutsu user they wouldn't really progress further than that. Out of the boys it was Sasuke who seemed to have the most talent in that field but that could be because of his bloodline. After all someone with the Sharingan was about the worst possible enemy for someone like Kurenai. The lesson ended with a small test as she put each one of them under a small Genjutsu and they had to try to notice what was wrong. They performed admirably and Kurenai was pleased to see their progress.

* * *

Lunch was once again eaten together with talking and telling stories to each other. Naruto however seemed to be interested in how the girl's medic training was going and he asked Sakura about it.

"Ne Sakura, how's that medic Nin training coming along?" he said asked her.

"Oh it's great, we're learning so much. Shizune-san is really nice but she's strict when it comes to teaching. She makes us read all these books on the human body and how it works." Sakura answered glad that he was interested in how she was doing,

"Must be tough learning all that?" Naruto said amazed. He could imagine how much time and effort that must take to study all that.

"Well, it is hard work but I enjoy it very much. I can't wait to learn some medical jutsu but Shizune-san told us that she was forbidden to teach us any jutsu until we passed Tsunade-sama's test on our knowledge." Sakura happily said.

"I'm glad you enjoy it Sakura. I'm sure you'll be an amazing Medic Nin one day." He assured her.

Sakura nodded happy that Naruto believed in her and asked him how he what the jutsu was he had done earlier. Naruto just explained it and soon Kiba asked if he could learn it as well. Naruto told him that he would ask Kakashi if it was okay as the jutsu was a C-rank and he didn't want to teach anything that wasn't approved first. The jutsu that they had been learning were D-ranked so maybe he wanted to start with that level first.

When lunch was over Kakashi called over Naruto; saying that he was joining them so that his team could complete a C-rank mission. Naruto looked at Anko and Kurenai who nodded; they had been informed that Naruto would have to join Team 7 once in a while so they too could perform some missions. Naruto didn't seem too happy about but there was nothing he could do about it so he followed Kakashi and Sakura so they could pick up Sasuke along the way to the Hokage tower to get their mission.

* * *

Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto looked at a fuming Sasuke's back on their way back from the mission. It had been a simple mission; just delivering some documents to a person in a nearby village. Nothing had happened; not even a few bandits so it was pretty boring. Sasuke however was mad that they had to do these kinds of missions while he could be training or at least do some decent mission instead. Kakashi tried to explain to him again that they would get better missions when they had completed enough low level C-rank assignments but he wasn't listening.

Naruto just shook his head at seeing his temporary teammate. Though he agreed with Sasuke that the mission was boring and not really something he liked to do, he did know that these were necessary. They had received this mission because they didn't have the necessary teamwork yet to do higher level missions. This was one of Kakashi's pet peeves so there was no way Kakashi would allow them to take on missions without teamwork. He and Sakura seemed to work well together; she acknowledge him as her superior as he was a Chuunin and Kakashi had said that in case something happened Naruto was in charge if he wasn't there himself. Of course this didn't please Sasuke and Naruto instinctively knew that he would never accept him as a team leader.

Luckily things had gone great and after their report they separated and each went their own way. Naruto saw that he still had some time left and hurried over to the training ground hoping that his team was still there. When he arrived there he saw that they weren't there anymore so he just left for home. Walking through the village he greeted some people who seemed to like him and ignored some of the older folks who still had a fierce dislike of him. He turned around the corner only to bump into someone. He quickly got up and saw that he had run into TenTen.

"Hey TenTen, sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention where I was walking." Naruto said helping her up.

"Don't worry about it Naruto. Actually I was looking for you." TenTen smiled at him.

"Me? Why are you looking for me?" Naruto asked while dusting of his pants.

"Treat me to some dango and I'll tell you." TenTen said while pulling him towards the dango shop.

Naruto laughed and followed her to the shop. He knew this shop as he came here more than once with Anko; she loved dango as much as he loved ramen. As they sat down the waitress greeted Naruto with a smile and took their order. TenTen didn't say anything until their order arrived and she quickly scooped up a few of the dango sticks. When she was done eating she stared at Naruto and started talking.

"Teach me!" she said.

"Sorry? Teach you what? You'll have to be a bit more specific TenTen." Naruto said while eating a dango as well.

"Teach me how to forge my own weapons." TenTen said seriously.

"I'm sorry TenTen but I can't." Naruto said. "I'd teach you if I could but truth is that I'm not really that good at forging."

"But you created such a magnificent sword!" TenTen questioned him. "How can you say that you're not good at forging?"

"I know what you mean but outside of this sword and those couple of knives I haven't forged anything spectacular." Naruto admitted. He saw the disappointment on her face and his heart called out to her. She was really looking forward to learning how to forge weapons but he just didn't have the skills or time to teach her. He thought for a minute and got an idea.

"Follow me." He ordered her and dragged her away from the shop. He ignored her questions and soon they had arrived at Hideki's shop. TenTen followed him inside wondering what had gotten into her friend. She didn't know the shop as it wasn't located anywhere near she lived or shopped but she was amazed when she got inside. Her eyes went wide when she noticed all the weapons and shinobi material lined up. She ran over to inspect some of the weapons and she was surprised at how well made they were.

"Hideki-san, are you here?" Naruto called out.

"Naruto, is that you?" A voice from the back answered before the door opened to reveal Hideki. "What are you doing here? Need anything?"

"Nope not today but my friend here is in search of your help." He pointed to TenTen. "She asked me to teach her how to forge but I figured that you're ten times the teacher I would have been in that department."

Hideki looked over at the girl that was currently bouncing through his shop while inspecting and admiring some of the more rare weapons he had on display. He could tell from her excitement that she was a weapon fanatic. If the smile on her face was telling him anything than it was that this girl loved weapons. He called her over wanting to meet her.

"So you like weapons?" Hideki asked her.

"Yes sir, I love learning about weapons and to see all these kind of rare weapons is just amazing. If I had known about your shop before I would have come here a lot sooner." TenTen nodded.

"Well, you're always welcome here to browse a bit but as for teaching you how to forge I'm afraid I'll have to refuse." Hideki admitted. "I'm truly sorry but with opening the shop and my new duty as the head of the civilian part of the council I wouldn't be able to teach you properly."

"I see, I guess I'll have to figure out something on my own then." TenTen said disappointed. She had hoped that this man could teach her but it wasn't meant to be.

"Isn't there anything you can do, Hideki-san?" Naruto asked again. "TenTen is aiming to become Konoha's best weapon mistress after all."

"There might be someone who could help her but you'll have to ask him yourself." Hideki said after thinking a minute or two. "Naruto, do you remember the old man who gave you that high quality metal while you were training in the forest?"

"Sure, he complimented me on forging my sword." Naruto remembered. "Oh I see, he's retired isn't he?"

"That's right. Now I can't promise you that he'll teach you but if you impress him enough then maybe he'll think about." Hideki addressed TenTen. "He lives in the southern part of Konoha, you can't miss it really. It's the house that stands alone, away from all the other houses."

Naruto and TenTen thanked the man and both promised to visit him in the near future. As it was getting late in the evening they decided not to bother the old man today. Naruto promised that he would accompany her the next day after their team training. Both of them said their goodbye and returned home. Naruto smiled at her retreating back knowing that TenTen was very excited at meeting the man; he doubted if she would get a lot sleep tonight.

* * *

Oops the end already? Yes I'm afraid so, I think that about 6500 words is a reasonable chapter length. I've got to keep some things for the following chapters now don't I?

The next chapter will be released on Sunday the 5th of October. Hope to see you guys then. Byebye for now.


	31. Chapter 31: A prank and good news

I don't own Naruto.

Hi everyone and welcome back to this new chapter of my story. It has been two weeks already and like promised here's the new chapter.

First of all I would like to answer a question that has been asked many many times.

Question: 'Will there be lemons in this story?'

Answer: 'YES, there will be lemons but not until Naruto gets back from his training trip with Jiraiya. Why not until then? Well, a lot of people said that Naruto was too young to have a relationship with Anko at this point and definitely too young for sex. That's why I decided not to make any lemons for the time being. I made some allusions and some subtle hints that they do have sex just to make the relationship believable. But I have to warn you, even though I will include a lemon here and there they won't be the focus of this story so don't expect a lemon every chapter.'

Anyway thanks to all the people who reviewed and/or read the story so far. I hope I can continue to satisfy all of you until the very end of this story. Please enjoy this chapter and let me know how you felt about it.

* * *

Chapter 31: A prank and good news

The day seemed to take forever for TenTen; morning practice had been painfully slow and even when Naruto proposed to have a Kenjutsu sparring match time seemed to go too slow. The afternoon training with Gai and Neji was even worse; With Lee still not able to train and practice Gai focused his attention to her and his speeches of 'youth and its power' were starting to get on her nerves. When Lee was there he distracted Gai enough to reduce it to acceptable levels and she was able to ignore it for the most part. Neji wasn't any help either as he was always busy practicing on his own. Gai couldn't train him in the Jyuken so he let Neji do as he pleased as long as he trained his 'power of youth'.

TenTen was amazed at the change Neji had undergone since his match with Hinata during the finals of the Chuunin exams. Before he was always fate this' and 'fate that' whenever he talked. Now however he seemed too much more relaxed and he even freely talked with Hinata something he clearly wouldn't have done before. He had even complimented her on their match once he had recovered enough from the shock. It seemed that he had made peace with the main branch of the Hyuuga clan or at least with Hinata.

"Alright, my two youthful companions that's it for today." Gai finally said ending the training. "We shall continue to train our youthful body tomorrow." He then gave his customary 'thumbs up and a pearly white teethed smile'. Luckilly Lee wasn't there so TenTen and Neji were safe from the unbeatable Genjutsu that normally appeared.

TenTen rushed to get her things and sped off to find Team 8 and in particular Naruto. She had waited all day to go see the old man who might teach her how to create and forge her own weapons so she was excited to the core of her being. She ran in the direction of Team 8's training ground jumping across rooftops so she wouldn't have to dodge people on the road. She made in record time and found Naruto waiting for her.

"Ah there you are TenTen. I've been waiting for you." Naruto smiled.

"I'm sorry Naruto but Gai-sensei kept us training until 5 minutes ago." TenTen apologized quickly.

"Don't worry about. I got to work on my special project a bit so no harm done." Naruto waved away her apology. "So are you ready to go?"

TenTen didn't need to be told twice so she eagerly nodded and followed Naruto towards the southern part of Konoha. They could have hurried to get there but Naruto didn't seem to be in hurry and she didn't want to pressure him. She was glad he wanted to accompany her because she didn't know anything about the man. Though Naruto said that he only met the man once and only for a short period of time it was better than nothing.

The house was easy enough to find just like Hideki had said it would be. It was the only house that was separated from all the others and it was pretty big too. Naruto and TenTen stopped by the large wooden gate and went up to the front door. The house was surrounded by a beautiful garden that had a large pond with several Koi fish swimming in it. They had to cross a small bridge over the pond to reach the door. When they knocked they heard a distant voice and about half a minute later the door opened. The old man seemed to have forgotten who Naruto and he was pretty sure he had never met the girl before.

"Musashi-san, do you remember me? My name is Namikaze Naruto and we met in Hideki-san shop a few months ago." Naruto greeted the man.

"Ah yes Naruto-san, you're the one who forged that sword with some of my leftover material. What brings you to my home?" Musashi remembered.

"Musashi-san, I would like you to meet one of my friends. Her name is TenTen and she's an aspiring weapon mistress." Naruto introduced TenTen.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Musashi-san." TenTen bowed deeply. She had a feint feeling that this man was a lot more than he let out to be.

"Likewise TenTen-san, now what can this old man do for you two youngsters?" Musashi asked them.

"Musashi-san may I ask you a question before we answer yours?" TenTen politely asked him. She got a nod from the old man and continued talking. "Are you Miyamoto Musashi-sensei? One of the world's most famous and best weapon forger known throughout the shinobi nations?"

"I would never have thought that one as young as you would know of my accomplishments but yet that's me." Musashi chuckled softly.

Naruto stayed silent not knowing what exactly was going on but he could see that TenTen was shocked and she seemed to have shut down entirely. He shook her a little bit so she would snap out of it and laughed when she jumped from surprise. He knew that the old man was a famous weapon maker but he hadn't thought that he was that famous. To have received praise like he did from that man was something that made him incredible proud.

"Now, how about you two answer my question." Musashi asked them.

"Musashi-sama, I humbly request to be taken on as your apprentice." TenTen said falling on her knees and bowing deeply.

"My dear girl, I haven't taken on any apprentice for decades." The old man said. "Why would I accept you as my apprentice?" He saw Naruto was going to say something but he shook his head. The old man clearly wanted TenTen do defend her case on her own.

"For as long as I can remember; my dream has been to become Konoha's best weapons mistress." TenTen said while raising her head looking straight at the man. "I have dedicated my life to make that dream come true and it means the world to me. When I heard that Naruto had forged his own weapons I was astonished that he could achieve something like that. I love weapons but I've never thought about forging my own until that moment." She said before catching her breath. "I asked him to teach me but he refused saying that he isn't capable enough to teach me to become a true weapon maker. When we asked Hideki-san, he refused as well saying that he didn't have the time to teach me properly but he told us about you. Please sir, I want to learn from the best, I want to be able to keep that tradition alive."

Musashi had listened very carefully to TenTen's words and he could see that she was serious about learning under him. She seemed to have a love for weapons just like he did in his younger years. To people like him and TenTen weapons were not only a tool to be used as a shinobi. They were extensions of their own body and they were cared for like they were alive. He decided to have one last question before making his decision.

"Very impressive TenTen-san. Could you show me one of your kunai please?" Musashi asked her. TenTen nodded and handed one of her standard kunai from her weapon pouch.

Musashi eyed the kunai and was impressed that it was so well cared for. He could see that the kunai was frequently used but there was no imperfection to the blade. It was perfectly sharpened and cared for just like a kunai should be. Inwardly he smiled thinking that TenTen would make a fine apprentice and maybe she would be able to carry on his family trade after he had passed away. He would have to teach her as much as possible in the few years he still had left but he was sure someone like TenTen would be able to succeed where others had failed.

"Naruto-san, would you please leave TenTen and me some time to talk? I'd like to ask her some questions in private before making my decision." Musashi said addressing Naruto.

"Of course Musashi-sama. Thank you for everything you have done for me and thank you for giving TenTen a chance." Naruto bowed deeply. "TenTen, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Thank you Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow and tell Anko-sensei hello for me." TenTen said thankfully.

* * *

The next morning Naruto and Anko were discussing if they would stay at the apartment or at his parents' house that weekend. Naruto wanted to spend the weekend there but Anko was a bit more reserved about it. She did want to live there eventually but she thought that it might be a little too soon for Naruto; she remembered how he had broken down in his parents' bedroom after all. But when Naruto reassured her that he was up to it she agreed to give it a try.

Along the way the rest of the team had met up and all of them were talking to each other about things that happened at home or during training. Kiba was telling Shino about how he had trained with his sister Hana the day before and how he had almost succeeded in using his new Jutsu. He failed to mention that Hana had kicked his ass during the spar though. Hinata was talking to Kurenai about how she and her little sister had become somewhat friends again and how glad she was for the change in their relationship.

When they reached the training ground however something strange happened. Out of nowhere Naruto got ambushed and he felt someone crashing into him making him fall to the ground. The next thing he knew was hearing someone say 'thank you' over and over again. He opened his eyes and saw TenTen looking down at him; she just grabbed him in a fierce hug and thanked him again. The others were looking at the scene with amazement before all of them turned to Anko. They knew that Anko wasn't worried about Naruto cheating on her or something like that but no one liked having their lover hugged by another woman. They couldn't read the look on her face so they all took a step backwards not wanting to receive any part of Anko's wrath. TenTen was unaware that Anko was approaching her as she was still too busy thanking the blonde. Naruto however was trying to escape from her hug but she had a firm hold of him and no matter how much he tried he couldn't get free. He froze when he saw Anko leaning close to TenTen and hoped that she wouldn't do anything rash.

"Ahem, sorry to interrupt you TenTen-san." Anko said with a creepy voice. "But I would like it very much if you could stop molesting my boyfriend."

TenTen felt someone lean close to her and when she heard Anko's words she seemed to realize what she had been doing. She quickly pushed herself away from Naruto and turned to Anko.

"Ah, Anko-sensei I'm sorry." She quickly tried to apologize. "I didn't mean anything with it."

"Really? It certainly seemed that you meant something with it." Anko said with a straight face looking very mad. "You looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"N-No, it's just that I wanted to thank Naruto-kun for introducing me to Musashi-sensei." TenTen stammered.

"Oh so it's Naruto-KUN now is it?" Anko said taking a step closer to TenTen.

"What? Oh no, I'm not interested in Naruto that way. Please Anko-sensei you have to believe me." TenTen pleaded.

"Do you mean to say that he isn't good enough for you? Is that it?" Anko asked her taking another step forward. TenTen was about to start apologizing again but then Naruto put a hand on Anko's shoulder.

"That's enough Anko-chan. I think you teased and scared TenTen enough for one day, don't you think?" Naruto said with a small grin on his face.

"Fine but you own me one. I was having a great time teasing her." Anko sighed before winking at TenTen.

"Wait a minute, you mean you were just messing with me?" TenTen asked, secretly glad that Anko wasn't serious.

Anko laughed loudly before grabbing TenTen in a headlock and started to rub her head with her fist. She then reassured the girl that she didn't mean anything bad with her teasing but that it was just a too great opportunity to tease her a bit. TenTen managed to get away from Anko and glared at the woman before joining in on the laughter with the rest of them. She had to admit that she fell completely for the prank and she wasn't really mad about it. She could see how funny it must have been for Anko to scare her like that. She vowed to Anko that she would get even one day and that she would regret messing with her like that.

"I accept your challenge TenTen but I'm not too worried about it." Anko shrugged with a smile.

"So TenTen, guessing from your excitement and the smile on your face it's safe to say that you got accepted as Musashi-san's apprentice?" Naruto asked TenTen.

The girl just nodded and told them how she had talked for hours with the old man about weapons, her hobbies, her dreams and her goals in life. She told them that he was very impressed with her and that in the end he had told her that her training would begin the next day. This brought a round of congratulations from Naruto and the rest that made TenTen beam with pride. The other genin and Jounin senseis had joined as well and congratulated her on becoming an apprentice of such an amazing person. When they had congratulated TenTen they started morning training and things went they usual way.

* * *

In the hospital people were getting ready for an operation on Lee; today Tsunade would try to heal his leg injury. It wasn't a really complicated surgery so he wasn't too worried about it. Still he was glad that Gai-sensei had been kind enough to accompany him to the hospital. He also told him that he would be there when he would wake up afterwards. What Gai hadn't told Lee was that the whole gang would be there as well to show Lee that they had faith in him. They wanted to let him know that he wasn't alone and that he had many friends who were waiting for him.

When his leg had healed enough Tsunade would attempt to remove the pieces of bone that were lodged inside his spine. She would have to perform several operations to succeed in removing every piece and she would have to be very careful as well. She had told him about the risks but Lee was determined to face the odds. It would take some time to heal if the operations worked but he was sure that he would make it through. He refused to give up like that.

"Are you ready Lee-san?" Shizune asked softly. She was Tsunade's assistant so she was asked to prepare Lee for the surgery.

"I'm ready Shizune-san." Lee said with confidence. "Gai-sensei, I'll see you in a few hours."

Gai watched as Lee was rolled out the room and sighed. He truly hoped that Lee would be able to continue his shinobi career. He knew how much that meant to the young boy and that he would be devastated if he had to quit. Gai had taken to the young boy ever since he saw him practicing like crazy just to catch up with his classmates in the academy. So when he had been chosen to become the boys Jounin sensei Gai had promised that he would do everything in his power to make Lee one of the best Taijutsu user in Konoha. Lee had surpassed his wildest imaginations when it came to learning Taijutsu and Gai truly believed that one day Lee would surpass him. He had the fullest confidence in Tsunade's capabilities but still he was worried a bit.

It was a good three hours later when Lee was returned to his room still asleep from the anesthetics. Gai immediately went to his side and sat down in the chair next to him. Tsunade entered the room and smiled at Gai; she was glad to see that someone would be there for Lee when he would wake up. She motioned for Gai to join her in the hallway so she could explain how the operation went. Gai nodded and silently followed her.

"Tsunade-sama, how did it go?" Gai asked a little worried.

"You can relax Gai-san, everything went perfectly." Tsunade assured him. "He should wake up in a couple hours but the pain should be minimal. His leg will remain in a cast for a week or two and then we can begin with small exercises so he can regain his mobility."

"Thank you so much Tsunade-sama." Gai said with a smile.

"Don't mention it; I'm glad everything went alright. I'll let you tell him the good news but remember NO training what so ever until I give permission." Tsunade sternly said.

Gai nodded and promised to tell Lee the exact same message when he woke up. Gai then left the hospital to inform the rest of the genin that the operation had gone well. Since Lee wouldn't wake up for a few hours he didn't have to hurry but he didn't want to lose time neither. He was glad that the operation had been during the morning so he knew they would still be at the training grounds. When he arrived he immediately called for them to gather so he could tell them the good news. It didn't have to be said that all of them were very glad for their friend and like they promised Gai the day before they would come and see him later on in the afternoon when Lee had recovered a bit.

Lee woke up feeling a bit disoriented but he knew that was because of the anesthetic so he didn't worry. He felt a bit of pain in his leg but it was manageable compared to the pain he used to have just after he fought Gaara. He looked at his leg and saw that it was wrapped in a white cast going from his foot to above his knee. He frowned at it but knew that it couldn't be helped, his leg needed to rest and heal before he could start training again. Of course he wouldn't be able to train if the injury in his back wasn't healed first but he swore to himself that he wouldn't give up until Tsunade had operated on his back.

Hearing a sound coming from his right side Lee turned his head and saw Gai snoring in the seat next to his bed. Lee couldn't help but be glad to have such a wonderful teacher at his side. Lee used his arm to shake the man a little hoping that he would wake up. Gai, who contrary to his somewhat flashy appearance was an excellent shinobi didn't need much prodding to wake up and sprung out of the chair in case that he was attacked. Seeing that he was safe Gai turned to his left and saw Lee smiling at him.

"Lee, how are you feeling? Are you in pain? Do you need anything?" Gai asked concerned.

"I'm fine Gai-sensei, though I could drink some water please." Lee admitted. Gai nodded and filled a glass with water before handing it to Lee who drank it in one go.

"I've got some good news for you from Tsunade-sama." Gai smiled at Lee. "The operation went perfectly; your leg should be as good as new once it's healed."

"Really? That's great news." Lee said relieved at hearing the good news. Just then they heard a knock on the door making Gai open it. To Lee's surprise all his friends entered the room. The girls entered first carrying a huge fruit basket with all different fruits. The guys followed close by and one by one they greeted him and shook his hand. The girls even gave him a kiss on the cheek making Lee blush like crazy. Gai was proclaiming Lee's youthfulness at finding so many girlfriends. This made Lee blush even more and yell out that Gai was wrong and that he didn't have any girlfriends. The rest of the people there were glad to see that Lee was doing fine and sniggered at both of them.

The genin told Lee what they had been doing and learning from their sensei's and said that they waited for him to join them so the entire group was complete. Lee promised to do his best to heal so he could start training again. Here Gai told him that he was forbidden to train in any way until Tsunade give him permission. Lee looked a bit down at hearing that but promised not to train. The other cheered him up by saying that he was plenty strong and fast enough; they would use this time to try and catch up with him. After talking for about an hour the group saw that Lee had trouble staying awake so they bid him a speedy recovery and returned home.

* * *

While all this was going on in the hospital Iruka was having a meeting with Tsunade in the Hokage's office. He had been summoned earlier that afternoon much to his surprise as he was teaching today. The Anbu that had come to relay the message had said that Iruka was to dismiss the students for the day and that his presence was needed urgently. After he told the students that they were free for the rest of the day he followed the Anbu to the Hokage tower.

To say that Iruka was somewhat nervous to meet with the new hokage was like saying that Naruto liked ramen. In other words an obvious fact. He had a good understanding with the Sandaime Hokage ever since the man had helped him deal with his parents' death all those years ago. He would be eternally grateful to the man for his kind words and help. Naruto was another reason why he considered the man some of the greatest person ever lived. The Sandaime had always supported Naruto and Iruka knew that Naruto considered the man family.

Tsunade however was someone Iruka didn't know at all; sure he knew what everyone knew about the Sannin but almost no one knew the Sannin personally. He knew of her history with the village and he had been told by Naruto how they had met and how he convinced her to become the Godaime Hokage but that was about all he knew about the woman. Naruto seemed to like her so to him that meant that she couldn't be all that bad. He entered the room and bowed to Tsunade before he stepped forward to her desk.

"You called for me, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked.

"Ah you must be Iruka-san, please take a seat." Tsunade pointed at the seat. "I called you here today to discuss some of the changes that will happen at the academy."

"Pardon my ignorance Hokage-sama but what are these changes you're talking about?" Iruka asked surprised. There hadn't been any changes in several years and he personally thought the system they had now worked pretty well.

"Ah of course, you haven't been briefed on that haven't you?" Tsunade then proceeded to tell Iruka about the changes they would be making. Iruka listened very closely and had to admit that it sounded very good in theory. He was a bit worried about the practical side of the project though. When he voiced his concerns Tsunade smiled at him.

"You see Iruka, that's exactly why I called you here. I've heard nothing but good things about your abilities as a teacher and as a person so I believe you're the perfect man for the job." Tsunade said giving him a thin envelope. When Iruka opened it and read through the contents of the letter inside he almost fainted.

"You want me to become the head of the academy and lead the program?" Iruka said astonished.

"Do you accept this assignment Iruka-san?" Tsunade asked him. "I've been insured that you were the ideal person."

"May I ask who recommend me for the job Hokage-sama?" Iruka wanted to know.

"There were a lot of people who vouched for you but I guess the most important ones were Namikaze Naruto and the Sandaime Hokage." Tsunade said with a smile. "Naruto told me that you were the only teacher at the academy that treated him with care and that he considered you like an older brother. The Sandaime praised your teaching skills and said that you were a professional who gives his all in everything he does. That told me everything I needed to know about you."

Iruka felt very proud and happy hearing that Naruto and the Sandaime held him in such high regard. He was glad to hear that Naruto considered him as an older brother seeing as he always considered the blonde shinobi as family. That the Sandaime had praised him like that came as a surprise but a very pleasant one at that. Now that he heard this, there was no way he could refuse the position Tsunade-sama offered him. If he did that he felt that he would disappoint them too much.

"Hokage-sama, if you think that I'm the best man for the job then I have no choice than accept it. I'll do my very best to ensure that this project works to perfection." Iruka said with conviction making Tsunade smile.

"Excellent, I'll announce your appointment as head of the academy tonight in a meeting with everyone who works at the academy." Tsunade clapped her hands together before she started to explain just what his new job would entail and what was expected of him. For two hours Iruka listened and give his opinion where needed. When they finally finished their talk it was nearly time for the meeting with the rest of the academy workers so they left straight for the meeting room. Tsunade knew she would be in for a long meeting and sighed hoping that this was the last meeting for the week. Little did she know that Shizune and Sarutobi had scheduled more than enough work to keep her occupied for the rest of the week.

* * *

After moving into his parents' house for the weekend Naruto was working through the assignments Jiraiya had giving him. To Anko's surprise Naruto immediately commandeered his father's office and installed himself in it. He ensured her that he felt okay with it so she didn't bother him about it. Naruto had been given several scrolls with things he needed to learn by the time Jiraiya returned to the village. He received a scroll for Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu and Fuinjutsu each filled with numerous assignments and objectives he needed to complete. Today he was working on Fuinjutsu and in particular on creating explosive tags. Naruto needed to create his own tags by figuring out how to make them by using the theory Jiraiya provided.

Contrary to what people thought creating such tags wasn't simple. It was more than just drawing a seal on a piece of paper; when one created a tag they had to calculate the necessary size of the seal according to the power you wanted the seal to have. If you used a seal that wasn't perfectly drawn you could have a small disaster at hand. It could explode too soon or too late, the explosion could be too big, not big enough or it could fail to explode to begin with. That's why Naruto was busy filling paper after paper with calculations to find the exact seal he wanted. It wasn't something he liked but he had already come up with another type of seal during this so he didn't exactly hate it as well. When he finished his math work he went outside and started drawing the seal on a small piece of paper. He then created a Kage Bunshin and ordered it to apply the tag to training log that could be found at the far end of his property.

The clone nodded and Naruto prepared himself just in case he had miscalculated or something; that was the reason he used a Kage Bunshin to do it. Until he was sure it worked exactly as he wanted it to work he wouldn't use it in any way. Seeing that the clone had put the seal on the log he raised him arm and gave the clone the sign to proceed. The clone turned back to the tag and forced some chakra into the seal. The seal burned for about two seconds before it exploded. The explosion however was way bigger than Naruto had wanted it to be so even at the distance he was he could feel the heat and the burst of air from the explosion. It was so big that he had to shield his ears from the sounds so that he wouldn't be temporary deafened. Opening his eyes he saw the destruction and couldn't help but whistle. The training log had been incinerated and a large crater was all that was left from the ground. Naruto was feeling very glad that he used a Kage Bunshin instead of going himself.

Anko was doing some reading of her own in the living room enjoying herself when a large explosion came from the garden. She knew that Naruto was working on explosive tags so she wasn't surprised to hear something being blown up. She didn't expect such a large explosion however and she became worried that something might have happened to her boyfriend. She hurried outside and saw Naruto safe and sound standing there looking at the result of his experiment. She went over to him to give him a good scolding at scaring her like that; he could at least have told her that he was going to try out one of his tags.

"Naruto, what the hell was that?" Anko yelled at him. "You scared me half to death with that explosion."

"Oh hey Anko-chan; I'm sorry for scaring you like that." Naruto said a bit sheepish. "It seems that I miscalculated somewhere. I meant to make it powerful enough to destroy the training log but something went wrong."

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" Anko asked him inspecting him for injuries.

"I'm fine; I used a clone to detonate it." Naruto grinned.

"Good thinking there; so what exactly went wrong?" Anko asked.

"I have no idea; I thought my calculations were correct." Naruto sighed. "Well, back to the drawing board it is."

"Don't worry Naruto-kun; you'll get it right eventually." Anko encouraged him.

The rest few hours were spend with recalculating his seals and testing a few other tags. At the end of the evening when Anko finally had enough of hearing explosion after explosion Naruto was forced to stop working on his tags. Nevertheless he had made some great progress and he was certain that he would fine-tune his tags in the coming days. They spend the rest of the evening talking and enjoying each other's company. When they finally went to bed Naruto had some trouble sleeping in his parents' bed but when Anko held him close he slowly drifted away.

* * *

The next few weeks went very fast for Naruto and the gang. Between training and doing some missions here and there time seemed to fly for the young genins. They all had made some serious progress and most of them were very proud of themselves. The ones who made the most progress were without a doubt Hinata, Sakura and Ino thanks to their training as a Medic Nin. The girls had surprised both Tsunade and Shizune with their talent and the three of them would be starting their hospital duty in about a month according to Shizune.

That didn't mean the rest of the genin weren't getting stronger as well. Proof of that was visible when you looked at Chouji. He had always been someone who lacked a bit of confidence in his own skills and body but now he was comfortable with whom he was. Thanks to the Sandaime's words after the invasion he had found his place in his team and he worked very hard to become strong. He trained with his dad in his family Ninjutsu and he was becoming a though opponent to beat. Chouji had large amount of chakra at his disposition and he wasn't afraid to use it during battle. He and Shikamaru had also been working on joined battle tactics and they had come up with some frightening combinations. Chouji would force his opponent towards Shikamaru's shadow making it easier for Shikamaru to catch them off guard and once he had them in his trap Chouji would deliver the finishing blow. It had proved to be a very useful way to deal with enemies. They had even considered Ino's ability to invade their enemies mind so they were a team with excellent teamwork.

Neji was also someone who had made a lot of progress thanks to the training he received. But more importantly he seemed to be a lot more open towards other people and wasn't the same jerk he was before his defeat at Hinata's hands. Though officially the match was a draw, to Neji he had lost completely. Hinata had shown him that one can defy destiny and fate; it had changed everything in his eyes. He was very impressed with the way Hinata had fought and he too was starting to create his own style of the Jyuken. It wasn't anything like Hinata's but rather he reformed the original Jyuken Taijutsu into something that he felt comfortable with. He still had a lot of work ahead of him but that didn't bother him in the least. On the contrary, it proved to be a very good way for him to relax and meditate.

All in all they were very happy with how things were going for them. They learned tons of new stuff and they got stronger each day so nobody had a reason to complain. Although there had been a small incident when it became known that Naruto had been officially accepted as Jiraiya's apprentice. Until then the only ones who knew about it were Team 8, Anko, Kurenai, Sandaime, Shizune and Tsunade. When Tsunade informed the council, word had spread around Konoha and it didn't take long until Sasuke heard the news.

_Flashback_

_Sasuke was returning home after training at his favorite training spot. He was fairly content at the way he had been progressing thanks to all the training he did. At first he had been skeptic about the whole team training thing but it proved to be worth it. He had learned several new jutsu like 'Shunshin no Jutsu' and even that jutsu Naruto had made. He had to admit that it was a powerful jutsu that might come in handy one day. He had gotten over the fact that he couldn't use his Sharingan during the morning training even if it had taken a while. _

_The only thing he couldn't get rid of was his feelings for Naruto. Everything the blonde did pissed him off to a certain degree. He just couldn't understand how someone like Naruto, who was the dead last in the academy, had become so strong. Even when Kakashi explained to him that Naruto trained just as much or maybe even more than he did Sasuke resented the blonde for being stronger. At first he had thought that he would catch up pretty fast but just as Sasuke progressed Naruto seemed to progress even faster. It was infuriating to say the least._

_While turning the corner he saw some of Konoha's biggest gossipers standing a few feet away. He snorted at them; he knew two of them were former shinobi and they were known throughout Konoha for always knowing the latest news. He got closer to them not really caring who or what they were talking about until he heard the name Namikaze Naruto fall. Deciding that maybe they knew something that could help him beat the blonde he approached them and listened to them. When he heard one say that Naruto had been accepted as Jiraiya's apprentice he almost lost it._

_He hurried home not wanting to cause a scene in the middle of the street. When he entered his house he let out a loud scream of frustration and envy. To be accepted as an apprentice to someone as legendary as Jiraiya of the Sannin wasn't something to take lightly. Sasuke just couldn't understand what made Naruto so special that he got this honor. After thinking for a while he figured that it was because Naruto was the son of the Yondaime Hokage, who had been taught by Jiraiya as a genin. _

_It was however the next day that things got messy. The others too had heard the news and confronted Naruto about it. Naruto confirmed the news saying that he indeed had been accepted as Jiraiya's apprentice. He also told them that he had been training with Jiraiya for a while now. Of course this forced Naruto to explain how exactly he had met Jiraiya and what exactly he had learned from the Sannin. After he finished telling them his first encounter with Jiraiya most of the genin were laughing at the pervert's misfortune to spy on kunoichi. Well the guys laughed, the girls were rather mad that a Sannin would spy on women in the hotspring. _

"_So basically he agreed to teach you because you're the son of his former pupil?" Sasuke said dryly._

"_Perhaps that was one of the reasons but I'm sure that's not the only reason." Naruto agreed. "If that was the only reason he could have taught me one thing and leave again. Instead he saw that I was someone worth training and that's why he took me as his apprentice."_

"_So you're saying that you're the only one here who's worth being taught?" Sasuke said angry._

"_I did not say anything of the sort Sasuke and I'd like it if you didn't put words in my mouth." Naruto disagreed strongly. "There isn't anyone here who isn't worth teaching and I would never think that of any of you. You are all my friends and I believe in all of you just like Sandaime-jichan and Tsunade-Baachan do. Besides I'm not the only one who's taught by a Sannin. Hinata, Sakura and Ino are learning to become Medic Nin so there will be a day when Tsunade-Baachan teaches them personally." _

"_Don't think that you're better than me just because of who your father was dobe." Sasuke stepped forward trying to intimidate Naruto. "He may have been Hokage but he was nothing compared to an Uchiha."_

_It took almost everything Naruto had not to knock Sasuke's lights out but he managed to resist the urge. He knew about Sasuke's jealousy and he could deal with it until a certain degree but if he started to insult his parents it would mean the gloves came off. Luckilly for Sasuke the Jounin sensei had heard the commotion and had intervened. Anko took Naruto to a side so she could calm him down a bit, she was glad and very proud that he managed to stay calm like that. Minato was, on top of being his father, Naruto's idol and the person he wanted to surpass more than anyone, for Sasuke to insult his father like that must have angered him a lot._

_Kakashi on the other hand was lecturing Sasuke about insulting people like that. He told Sasuke that he was very disappointed in his behavior and that if it happened again he would take action. Sasuke just ignored him until Kakashi threatened to remove him from the program. Sasuke didn't like that idea very much and nodded that he understood. He did refuse to apologize to Naruto however and Kakashi let it go seeing that this was the best he could get from the boy. _

_End Flashback_

It took several days before the tension between Naruto and Sasuke disappeared but eventually they just continued like before. Naruto pretty much ignored Sasuke for a few days but after that he tried his best to befriend the lone Uchiha. But like always Sasuke refused to open up to the rest of the genin outside of training and missions. The Jounin sensei had already accepted the fact that Sasuke didn't seem to be in a hurry to socialize with the group but as long as he worked together with them there wasn't anything they could do about it. They consoled themselves in the fact that the rest of the genin were very close group of friends.

* * *

Well, this ends this chapter. How was it? I tried to bring out Anko's playful side a bit when she messed with TenTen. I think Anko would do such a thing, she didn't mean to scare TenTen or be mean to her she only saw an opportunity to have some fun and she took it. For all you TenTen fans out there I might do a little follow up on her training with her new teacher later on. I think TenTen is a cool character and Kishimoto should tell us more about her or give her some more action.

About Sasuke being jealous well there's nothing to say really. I truly believe that Sasuke would have flipped if he knew that Naruto was being trained by a Sannin while he was stuck with Kakashi. We saw that he was the jealous type when he noticed Naruto summon and when he saw the destruction from the Rasengan. I believe that this jealousy was one of the reasons he left Konoha. I think he felt threatened by Naruto's progress and when he got the offer from Orochimaru he didn't hesitate and took it.


	32. Chapter 32: A bit of everyday fun

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of this story. I've been working hard on this story (more on the following chapters) and if things go well then in two chapters the action will pick up with Sasuke's deflection to Orochimaru. After that we'll have the time skip that everyone has been waiting for (including myself). Like I said before if anyone has any ideas for things to happen don't hesitate to PM me. I'll give you credit for the idea so don't worry.

How does everyone like the last manga chapters? Man, I swear Danzo went several places up on my shit list. And Pain is just awesome. I hope the fight between Kakashi and Pain will be worth it. Next I hope nobody really important dies like Tsunade. Though I do understand the reasons if it happens anyway.

Anyway enjoy the chapter and let me know if you have any remarks or questions.

* * *

Chapter 32: A bit of everyday fun

Today was an important day for Rock Lee. A scary, nerve wrecking but very important day for the young Taijutsu user as today was the day that Tsunade would perform the first of many attempts to remove the bone fragments located near his spine. His leg was already healed to a satisfactory level that he could walk around without his crutches though Tsunade advised him to keep using them for a few more days to give the muscles some time to adjust. Lee was very happy that this part of his injury was over and hoped that the operation today would be a success as well. He trusted Tsunade and believed in her abilities as a medic Nin but he was still a little worried.

He had been accompanied by Gai-sensei on the way to the hospital but he was a bit sad that none of his friends had joined them. He had received several visits from them over the past few days, each wishing him a speedy recovery and encouraging him. He had been very touched by the gestures and promised that he would do his best to join them as soon as possible. Of course the rest of the genins had told him to wait for Tsunade's permission but said that once he was cleared by her then they would help him catch up with the rest of them. Gai, who was walking alongside his favorite pupil, saw the sad look and inwardly smiled. He was very proud of Lee and knew what risks the boy was taking for his dream. He also knew that the rest of the genins wouldn't abandon Lee like that so they must have something planned later on. The hospital came into view and soon they entered the building going straight for the reception. After asking the woman for the number of the room where Lee would have to wait they marched on. Lee opened the door with a sense of dread but that vanished very fast as he saw all his friends waiting there for him.

"Hey Lee, stop standing there and get inside." Kiba called out. Lee nodded and stepped inside the room still surprised at seeing everyone here. Ino, Sakura and Hinata guided him to the bed and helped him in it.

"So are you ready to get better?" Naruto asked.

"You bet. I can't wait to start training again. I've had enough of doing nothing all the time." Lee said enthusiastically.

"I'm sure everything will be alright Lee-kun. Tsunade-sama is the best Medic Nin in the world." Hinata said smiling at Lee. "You'll be training with us in no time."

Soon after everyone wished him good luck and talked a bit Shizune entered the room telling everyone that Lee needed to get ready. They quickly said goodbye and promised to be there when he woke up after the operation. Lee thanked his friends and followed Shizune behind the curtain. Shizune then explained to him what was going to happen and said that there was still time to reconsider his decision but Lee was firm and wouldn't back out. About twenty minutes later Tsunade entered the room and together they left for the operation room.

Tsunade had been doing some research for this operation and she believed that she might be able to help Lee without endangering his life. Still it would take several hours of surgery with a team consisting of several Medic Nin's. One slip up could mean disaster and each and every one of them was aware of the risk. Lee took his place on the operation table and looked at the Medic Nin's at his side.

"Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san and the rest of you too; thank you so much for doing this. I have full confidence in you so I'm not afraid." Lee said with a bright smile.

"Thank you Lee-kun but let's save the 'thank you' words for afterwards okay?" Tsunade said before she started giving her instructions to her colleagues. Several minutes later Lee was asleep and they started the operation.

* * *

The rest of the genin weren't in the mood for training knowing that their friend was undergoing surgery at the same time but there was nothing else to do. Tsunade had warned them that the operation would take several hours and none of them wanted to wait in the hospital for so long. So the Jounin sensei decided that training should continue as usual but they could see that the genin were far from interested. After completing the normal training exercises they decided to separate them into their teams so they wouldn't be so distracted. Anko and Kurenai took their team towards the training ground just next to the forbidden forest that they usually used.

"Alright listen up; we understand that you guys are worried about Lee but that doesn't mean that you can let your emotion dictate your actions." Anko said sternly.

"Anko is right. Now we're going to do some team training and if we see that you don't give it everything you got then you'll be in big trouble. Is that clear?" Kurenai said equally stern.

"Hai, Anko-sensei, Kurenai-sensei." Was heard throughout the field. Team 8 knew better then not to give a hundred percent when it came to team training.

"Glad to see that you understand. Now, this is the situation; Anko is a missing Nin of unknown rank and has kidnapped the Daimyo's daughter and is holding her captive. You only know the location but nothing about it specifically. The four of you will be responsible of eliminating the missing Nin and rescuing the hostage. The time limit is two hours but there are several handicaps you'll have. Hinata will be forbidden to use the Byakugan, Naruto can't use Kage Bunshin, Shino isn't allowed to leave a bug on me and Kiba can't use his combination Jutsu with Akamaru." Kurenai explained the exercise.

"Hey, why am I the Missing Nin and you the Daimyo's daughter?" Anko complained.

"Because I said so, that's why." Kurenai said sticking out her tongue showing that she was joking.

"So not fair, I'm always the bad guy in these exercises." Anko said crossing her arms on her chest.

"Next time you can be the princess okay?" Kurenai laughed at the idea of Anko as a princess.

"Fine." Anko said happy.

"Alright, that's enough horsing around. Anko and I will be hidden in the forest and the time starts running in ten minutes." Kurenai ended their playful banter. She and Anko disappeared into the trees and left the rest of the team to start planning for their assault.

* * *

Thanks to the exercise time went pretty fast for the genin and when Anko and Kurenai told them that this was enough for the day the four of them were ecstatic. The six of them then returned to the hospital eager to find out how things had gone with Lee. It seemed they weren't the only ones as the rest of the gang was there as well. According to Gai it couldn't be much longer seeing that two medic Nin had left the operation room and hadn't come back. He assumed that they weren't needed anymore and this might indicate that they were nearing the end of the surgery.

An hour of anxious waiting later Lee was escorted out of the operation room with Tsunade and Shizune at his side. They refused to say anything until Lee was safely in his room. When they had exited the room they were assaulted by questions about Lee and Tsunade had to remind them several times that they were in a hospital. She motioned them to follow her into the room next to Lee's.

"Calm down everyone, please. We've just had a surgery that took several hours and we're tired." Tsunade said tiredly.

"Tsunade-sama, how did the operation go?" Gai asked concerned.

"You can relax Gai, it went perfectly." Tsunade said smiling. "We managed to extract several piece of bone fragments without any complications. In fact we managed to extract several more than I had anticipated."

"T-Thank you so much Tsunade-sama, how can I ever repay you?" Gai said in tears, happy that his student was alright.

"Don't thank me just yet Gai, we still have some work left. We let Lee rest for a week or so before attempting to remove the rest." Tsunade told him.

"When can we see him?" TenTen asked Tsunade.

"He should wake up in about an hour but even then he'll be very tired and will need rest. You can see him for a bit but try not to stay too long." Tsunade said seriously. She knew how tired and in pain Lee would feel but even she wouldn't prevent his friends from seeing him.

"Why don't we let Team Gai visit Lee today and the rest of us can visit Lee tomorrow?" Kakashi said trying to do some crowd control.

"That's a great idea Kakashi-sensei. That way it won't be so tiring for Lee." Hinata agreed.

Kakashi's idea was accepted by all of them and they all asked Neji and TenTen to tell Lee that they would visit him the next day. Of course they accepted and thanked them for their consideration for their teammate. The other bid Tsunade and Team Gai goodbye and returned home tired from training and from worrying about their friend.

* * *

Naruto was once again holed up in his father's office working on his assignments he received from Jiraiya. After he had succeeded in successfully creating his explosive tags he was now working on customizing them. He wanted to have tags with several proportions ready to use at any time. He had made the calculations for tags with different time delays and how big the explosions needed to be. He had also created a tag of his own but he was tightlipped about it for the moment.

After working for about two hours Naruto had enough of writing and scribbling down the seals and he went outside to work on his latest jutsu. He was still working on the jutsu that would be equal with his father's 'Rasengan' and though he had made excellent progress he still had a lot of work to do. He went to his usual spot away from prying eyes and started reviewing what he had already discovered. His training had enabled him to hold the jutsu long enough now but he still needed to work on the shape. It still didn't have the size he wanted and there was the problem he had encountered. The bigger he made it, the more unstable it became. Once he passed a certain size the jutsu just collapsed forcing him to start all over again. It was frustrating to say the least.

Anko had seen her lover going outside and knew he would either be working with his tags or on his jutsu. Since she didn't hear any explosions she figured he was working on his secret project today. She grinned and left the house sneaking closer to Naruto. For weeks she had been trying to figure out what Naruto's new jutsu was but once again he refused to say anything about it. No matter what she tried or said he kept quiet. It was driving her up the walls, she just wanted to know one little secret, she didn't understand what the big deal was. She had even bribed him with some extra shower fun time or threatened him with no ramen for a week. The result stayed the same, he wouldn't budge. That's why she decided to try the sneaky way, if asking nicely didn't work than she would have to use other means. She covered behind a tree before sprinting towards a large boulder that would be able to conceal her completely. Bit by bit she got closer; she could already see Naruto standing there with his back turned on her. She looked at the place trying to find a new hiding place closer to him and smiled when she noticed the big tree that had several branches that would allow her full view from above. Smirking and confident that she hadn't been seen yet she crept to the tree before climbing it.

From her position she could she Naruto standing there with a look of concentration on his face. She smiled at bit; she liked that face, it was one of the things she loved the most about Naruto. His will to never give up no matter what. She then noticed the rest of his stance; his hands were held in front of him, palms towards each other with about 5 inch between them. She leaned closer to see more clearly but she couldn't make out anything more than that. She looked around and saw that the tree had another branch that would allow her to see closer. She was unaware however that Naruto had noticed her pretending not to have noticed her; he grinned, this was an excellent way to repay her for some of her teasing she always did. Naruto had long been used to his girlfriend's spying and had taken precautions; he never trained on his special project without making some Kage Bunshin who surveyed the area disguised and spread around the garden. So when a Kage Bunshin popped, informing him of his girlfriend's presence he wasn't too surprised.

He ordered another Kage Bunshin to sneak up on her in the tree and when the clone saw Anko leaning closer to see it couldn't resist. With skills acquired after years of pranking the clone positioned itself straight behind Anko before yelling out a loud 'BOO'. Anko who was fascinated by Naruto didn't pay attention and so she got so surprised that she actually jumped several inches from the branch screaming her head off before falling out of the tree straight into her boyfriend's arms.

"Hello Anko-chan, how nice of you to 'drop' by." Naruto said laughing loudly. Anko who still had her hand across her heart from the scare finally understood what had happened and scowled before punching Naruto in the arm.

"You little jerk, you think this is funny do you?" she said before jumping out of his arms.

"Yeah, a little bit." Naruto said winking at her.

"I'll show you funny mister smarty pants." Anko growled before she started to chase him around the garden. If anyone had entered the garden at the moment they would have seen a laughing Naruto running from a kunai wielding Anko with a predatory smile on her face. After chasing him for about a minute she caught up with him and tackled him into the shallow pond in the middle of the garden. She sat down on his stomach effectively preventing him from escaping before she started tickling him. Naruto screamed out in laughter while pleading for mercy but receiving none.

"A-Anko-chan, p-please h-have m-mercy." Naruto managed to say.

"There is no mercy on the battlefield." Anko said victoriously before she stopped with her torture. She then bended down toward his lips and started to kiss him. Naruto eagerly responded to the kiss and held her closely. No matter how many times she kissed him she always had an effect on him. The small kiss turned into a major make out session before Naruto flipped her over so he would be on top. Anko didn't resist; she loved it when Naruto took control. She smiled at him when he broke the kiss, a bit sad he stopped kissing her but she recognized the lust in his eyes. She patted herself on the back for having such an influence on her lover. Next thing she knew she was lifted out of the pond held closely by Naruto and carried towards the house, she shivered in anticipation of what was coming. She loved her lovemaking sessions with Naruto, especially after she had managed to turn him on like she did now. She was in for a long night and nothing could make her any happier.

* * *

The next day Hinata, Sakura and Ino were once again walking towards the hospital for their daily lessons with Shizune. For weeks now they had been studying medicine with Tsunade's apprentice and they had made some excellent progress. Today however they would be allowed to help with the patients; nothing too complicated but it was a start, they would be following certified Medic Nin and assist them where needed. The girls were very happy that Shizune and Tsunade deemed them ready to start working at the hospital and were eager to show them what they had learned in the past few weeks.

"Ah there you three are. Come on; let's get you ready shall we?" Shizune said smiling.

Shizune ushered them inside a changing room for nurses and gave each of them an outfit; Shizune almost laughed at their faces when they saw the clothes they would be wearing. It was a standard nurse outfit; a white one piece dress, a little hat and shoes. Of course the girls protested at first, not wanting to wear the skimpy outfit but Shizune was firm and told them that this was what they would be wearing while working in the hospital.

"Urgh, I feel like one of those girls who work on the street." Ino complained loudly.

"Yeah, I mean could they make this any shorter?" Sakura agreed. Her outfit showed a lot of leg and she felt a little bit embarrassed about it.

"Come on you two it isn't so bad." Hinata said smiling. Sure the outfit was a bit revealing but it could have been a lot worse. Besides she was already used to wear something sexy thanks to Anko and Kurenai.

Both Sakura and Ino gaped at Hinata. Here was the shyest girl in their class, a girl who used to faint when she saw the object of her dreams when he so much as looked her straight in the eyes, and she was telling them not to be such prudes. They wondered what had happened to the girl but then they remembered who her senseis were and they understood immediately. Being submitted to Anko's fashion sense would make sure that an outfit like this didn't bother you anymore. They looked at Hinata standing there in front of the mirror and they had to admit that she looked fabulous. They felt a little jealous of Hinata who was much more developed than they were, especially in the chest area.

"Wow Hinata, you look great." Ino said staring at her.

"Thank you Ino-chan, you don't look bad yourself." Hinata said returning the compliment." You too Sakura."

Before Sakura could argue with her friend's opinion Shizune entered the room to see what was taking them so long. She had a lot of work to do so she couldn't afford the waste any time. She smiled at the girls and told them that they looked very professional which made them very happy. She then dragged them outside the changing room and told them to follow her. With the three girls hot on her tail Shizune made her way to her office.

"Alright girls, let me explain what is going to happing today." Shizune said calmly. "Starting today you will be allowed to assist a Medic Nin. Before you get any ideas, you will not be helping in healing or curing any patient for the time being as it's much too soon for that. However, you will be joining a Medic Nin like me and he or she will ask questions and explain things to you with each patient." The girls nodded their understanding at Shizune's words and waited for further instructions.

"Please pay close attention to what is happening and be sure to ask if you don't understand anything. They have been briefed about the three of you and they don't mind at all." Shizune continued. "Sometimes a patient will ask that you leave the room if they are uncomfortable with you being there, please respect that and don't make a fuss about it." After the explanation Shizune introduced each girl to the Medic Nin they would be following and assisting. Thankfully the girls were accepted very fast and the Medic Nin's were glad to teach them everything they knew.

Inuzuka Hana was carrying her little brother Kiba to the hospital after he hurt himself during training. She shook her head at her foolish little brother; she had told him that this new jutsu was out of his league for the time being but would he listen? She supposed it was kind of cute how he pushed himself so hard to surpass his friend and rival but he really needed to learn how to back down. She had seen him practice only to crash head first into one of the surrounding trees effectively knocking him out. Of course if that was the only thing wrong with him she would have just stayed by his side until he woke up but apparently the crash had been severe enough to crack some of his ribs. So she did the only thing a big sister could do and carried him to the hospital.

Going to the front desk and explaining the situation she was told to put Kiba into a bed while they waited for a Medic to arrive. After waiting a bit the door opened and revealed a middle-aged woman and a young girl that Hana recognized as Hyuuga Hinata. She remembered that Kiba had said something about her and two other training under Tsunade to become Medic Nin. The woman didn't waste much time and told Hinata to do a scan of Kiba's injuries. Hinata was a bit surprised since Shizune had told them that they would just be watching a Medic Nin at work.

"Well, get on with it girl!" The woman said impatiently. "You won't learn anything with just standing there."

"H-Hai, sensei." Hinata said quickly before approaching the bed. When she saw Kiba lying there she wondered what had happened but figured she could ask later on. Running through some handseals she activated the jutsu and started doing a scan.

"Sensei, he has three cracked ribs and a small concussion." Hinata said with some uncertainty a few moments later. She was very nervous as the woman was following her actions very closely. When the woman smiled and congratulated her on a well done diagnosis she relaxed a bit.

"Good job, Hinata." The woman said. "Remember, a good diagnosis is the first step in correctly healing a patient. Therefore you must always double check and be very certain that you made the right decision at all time."

She told Hinata to step aside so she could start healing Kiba. She started with healing his concussion before she moved on to his ribs. Luckilly a few cracked ribs were easy enough to heal and a concussion was something that she had healed a thousand times before. When she finished she used a special jutsu to wake Kiba up.

"Ow, where am I? What happened?" Kiba asked confused.

"You're in the hospital and what happened is that you tried that new jutsu and crashed into a tree." Hana said with a stern voice. She would make sure that Kiba got scolded by their mother as well.

Kiba nodded at his sister before his eye fell on a familiar lavender-haired, pupil less eyed girl. He looked at Hinata with his mouth wide open unable to say a word. He just kept staring at her, his brain shut down from the sight.

"Hahahaha, it seems that you have quite the effect on my little brother Hinata-san." Hana said laughing. "I think you broke him."

Hinata just turned a bright red before hiding herself a bit from Kiba's view. She couldn't believe that Kiba would have such a reaction to seeing her. She was glad Ino or Sakura weren't there to see this, they would tease her for weeks. Or worse; if Anko found out about this she was screwed.

"Well, seeing that this young man will be fine in a few minutes I'd say it's time for us to move on Hinata." The woman said smiling. "Come along now."

Hinata quickly followed glad to be able to leave before Kiba came to his senses and she had to deal with his reaction. Secretly she was glad she had such an effect on her teammate; it made her feel good and sexy. It also did wonders for her self-esteem and the fact that she liked the boy quite a bit.

* * *

Morning training had been going as usual; starting with Gai's torture workout from hell followed by either Ninjutsu training with Kakashi and Asuma or Genjutsu training with Kurenai. Today however there would be a new part added to the training. The Jounin sensei's were satisfied with their students' progress and believed they were ready to start sparring against each other individually or against their sensei's in group.

"Alright gather around." Asuma called the genin to him. Once he had their attention he continued. "First of all let me say, and I speak for all of us here present, that we are very proud of you all. You all have become very strong over the past few months. Therefore we believe it is time to introduce a new part during training. From now on there will be sparring matches every day between all of us."

"Troublesome. What do you mean 'all of us'? Does that include you senseis as well?" Shikamaru asked groaning.

"You're still as sharp as ever, Shikamaru. But yes that does include the Jounin sensei's as well." Asuma nodded. "Of course you won't be facing a Jounin level shinobi on your own. When you spar with one of us you'll be fighting as a team with two others."

"Now for a few rules; these sparring matches are just that. They're not fights to the death or to injure your adversary, is that understood?" Asuma said strictly. "They're meant to enable you to test your strengths and to understand your weaknesses. Under no circumstances are any of you allowed to permanently injure anyone."

"Asuma is right. Any breaking of the rules will be severely punished." Kakashi said backing up his friend and fellow shinobi.

The group nodded their understanding; they were sure none of them here would purposely injure another seeing as they were all friends any way. Still accidents happened from time to time so they promised to be careful. Asuma then continued to explain that the sparring matches would be Taijutsu only unless stated otherwise. That meant no ninjutsu or weapons could be used; of course they would take in account that someone like TenTen wouldn't stand a chance against Neji in a pure Taijutsu match so they wouldn't put her against such an opponent. Other than that everything was allowed as long as they stayed within the rules.

"There will be one sparring match a day while the other observe and comment later on." Kakashi finished the explanation. "The spars will randomly decided by picking a piece of paper out of this box." He said showing a box with a hole in it on top. He then put his hand inside and took out two little piece of paper and gave it to Kurenai.

"The first person to spar will be Uchiha Sasuke, please come forward." Kurenai announced. Sasuke stepped forward with a smug expression on his face eagerly waiting to see who would be his opponent. "And the second person will be…"Kurenai stared at the paper before continuing. "Namikaze Naruto."

Naruto jumped up from where he was sitting and walked over to where Sasuke was standing. He wasn't surprised when he saw the satisfied smile on Sasuke's face. Even though Naruto had given up on his rivalry with him, he was curious and somewhat excited to face the boy in a spar. Naruto took off his sword and gave it to Anko seeing as he couldn't use it anyway.

"Okay, let me remind you that this is a Taijutsu match only. Naruto, that means no Kage Bunshin or any other Ninjutsu." Kakashi said to Naruto. He then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, just like any other time during this training you can't use your Sharingan."

Both of the boys nodded their consent and got into their stance. Kurenai, Anko and Asuma went over to the other genin and sat down next to them. The genin were talking lively about the match, each of them betting on who would win.

"Sensei, who do you think will win?" Hinata asked Anko.

"Can't say Hinata. While Naruto is without a doubt proficient in Taijutsu, it isn't his best skill either. Sasuke on the other has always been talented at Taijutsu, thanks to his family style and his Sharingan." Anko admitted.

"But Sasuke can't use his Sharingan now so wouldn't that be to Naruto's advantage?" Chouji asked.

"You forget that Sasuke has been training on his Taijutsu for years while Naruto only has had a year to practice and use his style. Experience is not something that should be ignored." Shikamaru said from behind Anko.

"Shikamaru is right. Experience is something of extreme importance in a fight. But instead of speculating I suggest we watch the match." Kurenai said pointing at both boys.

"Naruto, Sasuke are you two ready?" Kakashi said. He received two nods and lowered his hand starting the match.

As soon as Kakashi's hand came down Sasuke shot forward trying to take the pace of the match. He started out with a wide punch aimed at Naruto's jaw but he only hit air as Naruto ducked under his punch. Sasuke then had to jump back slightly to avoid being hit by an uppercut aimed at his stomach. Naruto kept pushing forward and tried kick Sasuke's feet from under him only to have Sasuke jump over his attack. Seeing his attack missed Naruto raised his arm just in time to block a roundhouse kick before grabbing Sasuke's leg and started spinning him around. He let go of Sasuke who was sent flying but managed to land on his feet. They both smirked at each other before they shot forward once again both pulling their arm back to deliver a punch. Neither of them backed down and this resulted in a crash were both boys got punched in the face.

Momentarily stunned from the blow they stopped their attack. Naruto was the first to recover however and managed to land another hit on Sasuke nailing him right in the stomach. Sasuke got the air knocked out of him and he bend over holding his stomach in pain. He wasn't distracted for long however as he saw Naruto preparing for another attack, he blocked the kick with his left arm before he slammed his right elbow into his opponents ribcage. Naruto winced in pain, he wasn't sure but he felt like he had broken a rib or two from the blow. He didn't back down however and exploited Sasuke's proximity by grabbing him by the head with both hands. He pulled Sasuke's head down while bringing his knee up and slammed it into Sasuke's nose which broke on impact.

Kakashi who had been chosen as referee glanced at his fellow Jounin sensei and nodded. The match had gone on long enough and both boys had been injured. Though the spar had been a little more serious than they had hoped both boys seemed to be in control of their emotions so far but he feared that if he let things go on things would get out of hand. Better to stop the match now when there was no clear winner. Seeing that they were preparing for another attack he quickly positioned him between them effectively ending the match.

"Well done both of you." Kakashi said quickly. "Remember this is just a spar so there isn't a winner or a loser. You both fought very well today and I'm looking forward to see you both progress even further."

Naruto nodded and smiled at his teachers praise and relaxed from his stance. He walked over to Sasuke and held out his hand for Sasuke to shake. Naruto had enjoyed their spar and was surprised at Sasuke's strength and skill. He had always known that Sasuke was an excellent and talented shinobi; if only he could get rid of his arrogant behavior maybe they could be friends.

"Good fight Sasuke. You're really strong at Taijutsu." Naruto sincerely said.

"Whatever Dobe, if I could use my Sharingan you wouldn't have stood a chance." Sasuke said ignoring Naruto's words before walking back to the side.

The other genin were a bit mad at Sasuke's dismissal of Naruto like that but let it go when Naruto said that they shouldn't worry about it. He should have known that Sasuke was too proud to accept his acknowledgement. He wondered why Sasuke wasn't tired of being so mad and arrogant all the time; surely one would get enough of being so moody and grumpy every single moment of the day.

* * *

Later that day Naruto returned from performing one of his Chuunin duties; he had argued with Tsunade that doing too many duties would severely cut his training time but Tsunade had said that as a Chuunin he was expected to perform them. Naruto had accepted not wanting to receive special treatment; that's why he was scheduled to do guard duty at the gate with another more experienced Chuunin. It wasn't all bad since he got to know some new people and he eagerly listened to their stories and adventures whenever there was a peaceful moment. He especially liked guard duty with either Kotetsu or Izumo as they were fun guys to work with. They understood the importance of a good laugh once in a while and they had always been friendly with him.

So now Naruto was heading home after being relieved of duty; he decided to take a shortcut by going through the training grounds. He didn't expect anyone to still be there so he was a bit surprised when he saw Sasuke working on one of his Katon jutsu's. Naruto had to admire Sasuke's determination; to still be training at this hour after a long day of team training and missions was something he respected. Of course he would never admit it out loud. He watched as Sasuke crashed down on the grass after performing the jutsu one more time. Seeing that this might be a time to talk to the boy Naruto approached him.

"Still training hard huh Sasuke?" Naruto said smiling. Sasuke who hadn't noticed Naruto's presence until then glared at him before answering.

"Are you spying on me dobe? What do you want?" Sasuke sneered.

"Nah, I wasn't spying on you. I just finished guard duty and was on my way home that's all." Naruto said ignoring Sasuke's smug behavior.

"Well, don't let me keep you." Sasuke said trying to make Naruto leave.

"You know, I don't understand you at all. Why do you insist on being such a jerk?" Naruto said frowning.

"Whatever dobe, you couldn't understand what I've been through." Sasuke said turning his head away from Naruto. He really didn't want to discuss this with the one he saw as a not so friendly rival.

"Maybe, maybe not but I do know what it means to be alone. You're not the only one who lost his parents you know?" Naruto admitted.

"Shut up dobe, how would feel if you saw your brother kill your father and mother in front of you?" Sasuke all but shouted.

"Honestly? I don't know because I have no idea what it means to have a brother or parents." Naruto said solemnly. "My mum and dad died when I was just a day old remember? I grew up alone thinking they didn't love me or abandoned me until I made genin. That's why I said that I know what it means to be alone."

"I don't need your pity!" Sasuke yelled.

"Pity? Is that what you think this is?" Naruto asked bewildered. "I don't pity you Sasuke; on the contrary I envy you. You at least had a chance to know your parents even if it was only for a few years. That is something I will never have. You know I used to be jealous of you; you were loved by almost the whole village, everyone adored you yet you pushed everyone away. I never understood that but I'm sure you have a reason."

"Don't concern yourself with my life Namikaze." Sasuke remarked. "Besides I don't need to explain anything to you."

"Fair enough. But let me warn you Sasuke if your quest for power endangers Konoha or anyone living here I'll personally stop you." Naruto warned him.

"Whatever dobe, don't think that because you're the son of a hokage that you can threaten me." Sasuke said with his usual sneer on his face.

"This has nothing to do with who my father is Sasuke." Naruto said narrowing his eyes. "I know that you're obsessed with getting stronger so you can kill Itachi. While I can understand this to a certain degree that doesn't mean I won't stop you if you cross the line." Naruto then stood up and left Sasuke without saying another word. Sasuke glared at Naruto's retreating form and he had to calm himself down lest he attack the blonde.

'How dare he threaten me like that? I'm an Uchiha for crying out loud.' Sasuke thought furiously. 'One day I'm going to make you eat those words dobe.'

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter. How was it? I especially liked the part with Anko and Naruto fooling around and also the part between Hinata and Kiba. I'm sure each of you has an image of a sexy nurse in your mind so imagine Sakura, Ino and Hinata like that and you'll understand Kiba's reaction.

The fight between Sasuke and Naruto isn't anything serious. Naruto didn't go full out because it's just a simple spar and he couldn't use his Ninjutsu. I think the 'experience' factor is important so I hope I didn't disappoint anyone. Also it wasn't Naruto's intention to humiliate Sasuke in front of anyone as he's trying to get Sasuke to open up a bit. He realizes that they will never be friends but he still want to give it a try.

The next chapter will be up in two weeks like always. Hope to see you all then. Bye for now.


	33. Chapter 33: A scare and a mission

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to my story. I hope everyone is in good health and happy. I myself am doing fine actually. I managed to get a small promotion at work so that's good right? Only one problem is that I need to take evening classes that take up most of my evenings during the week. This results in less time to write but hey it's only for a month or two so no problem. This is a great opportunity for me so I can't screw this up.

Anyway let's get on with the chapter. Enjoy

* * *

Chapter 33: A scare and a mission

It had now been almost three months since Jiraiya had left Konoha so he could prepare for Naruto's training trip. In those three months Naruto and the gang had been training hard for the upcoming battles with Akatsuki or any other enemies that threatened their peaceful village. During that training all of them had gained new strengths and learned new things so all in all things were going great for all of them. Especially Naruto had grown a lot thanks to the training schedule Jiraiya had left him; not only did he get stronger he also learned about sealing, tactics and everything else the Toad Sannin had included.

Anko was standing on the side watching her young charges train but unlike any other day she was restless and uncomfortable. She seemed to be unable to relax and it was getting on Kurenai nerves. The last time Anko had been like this was when Team 8 had entered the Chuunin exams all those months ago.

"Anko, what's wrong with you?" Kurenai asked finally. Anko didn't answer but dragged Kurenai into the bushes away from everyone. "Anko, what the hell?"

"Sssh, Kurenai can I trust you?" Anko asked worriedly.

"Of course you can trust me. Anko, what is this about?" Kurenai sighed.

"I'm late." Was the only thing Anko managed to say.

"Oh my god! How long?" Kurenai asked immediately.

"A week and a half." Anko said unable to look at Kurenai. "What am I going to do?"

"Okay first of all you need to calm down." Kurenai said placing her hands on Anko's shoulders. "Second of all, have you told Naruto yet?"

"No, I haven't said a word about it to Naruto." Anko whispered like she was afraid he might hear her from such a distance. "I'm scared to tell him."

"Anko, you need to tell him. He has a right to know that you might be pregnant." Kurenai said hotly.

"Don't you think I know that? Do you have any idea how hard this is for me?" Anko hissed back at her. "I'm scared to death right now."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you. But you need to tell him Anko." Kurenai sighed. "Can you imagine how he would feel if he found out about it from someone else?"

"I know, believe me I know but it would ruin everything if I'm pregnant. With Akatsuki after him they wouldn't hesitate to use me and our child against him." Anko said fearing for her lover's live.

"I understand Anko but you don't know if you're pregnant yet." Kurenai said trying to calm down her friend. "Why don't I call Naruto here and then you can go see Tsunade-sama together?"

Anko nodded her consent and waited until Kurenai had told Naruto that she needed to speak with him. She was terrified of telling him that she might be pregnant with his child. Until now she had always had a stable menstrual cycle; usually she knew exactly what day her period would start but this time it hadn't come. Now a week and a half later she still didn't have her period and she feared that she had gotten pregnant even if they used every way of preventing that.

"Anko-chan, what's wrong? Kurenai-sensei told me you didn't feel well." Naruto asked her when he arrived. To his surprise Anko just grabbed him and hugged him closely.

"Naruto-kun, I'm late." Anko said with a trembling voice. If someone had told him that before he met Anko he would have answered with 'late for what?' but luckily for him he had been taught about the female body and its implications by his girlfriend during their time in the forest.

"Are you sure? Did you take a test yet?" Naruto said while still holding her. He could feel her shaking in his arms and knew that she was terrified of telling him. He had noticed that she was acting a little strange but when he asked she told him that everything was fine.

"You're not mad at me?" Anko asked surprised.

"Of course not. Anko-chan, it takes two people to make a baby remember? We're in this together; so no I'm not mad." He smiled at her when he felt her relax in his arms. She raised her head and kissed him square on the lips, happy that he wasn't mad at her.

"Thank you Naruto-kun, I was so worried you would be mad at me." She said between kisses.

"Okay, why don't you go home and get cleaned up a bit while I go get Tsunade-Baachan." Naruto asked her.

Anko silently nodded and left Naruto's embrace but not before giving him one last kiss. She left the training grounds and went straight for their home. If was funny but in just a few weeks time both of them had accepted Naruto's parents house as their home. It wouldn't take much longer before they moved in permanently. She ran straight to the bathroom and took a quick shower before going back downstairs to wait for Naruto and Tsunade.

Naruto hopped across the rooftops towards the Hokage tower; he was thinking about what would happen if Anko was indeed pregnant. If she was then there was no way he would leave on that training trip for three years. No child of him would have to miss his or her dad while growing up and he didn't want to leave Anko alone to take care of their child neither. They would have to adjust to the situation. He wasted no time and went straight for the Hokage's office ignoring some of the people who told him to stop. He just barged in not caring who was inside with the Hokage.

"Naruto, what is the meaning of this?" Tsunade said angry. Luckily she was alone in her office for the moment.

"Baachan, I need you to come with me quickly." Naruto said dodging a paperweight aimed at him.

"Don't call me that you brat. What's the matter?" Tsunade said before calming down a little. She could see Naruto was nervous and she had never seen him like this.

"Its Anko-chan, come on." Naruto said.

"Is she hurt? What happened?" Tsunade said rising from her chair.

"I can't tell you but you have to come with me." Naruto sighed loudly. "Please, this is really important."

"Fine, but this better not be a prank you hear me?" Tsunade glared at him.

Naruto just nodded and dragged her out of the office and outside the tower. She followed him and couldn't help but wonder what was going on. For Naruto to act like this, it must be something serious. Not even five minutes later they landed in front of the gate of his home and Naruto ushered her inside. Tsunade followed close at his heels expecting the worst. She relaxed when she found Anko sitting in the living room.

"Okay, what is going on here?" Tsunade angrily said. "I get dragged out of the office thinking that something terrible has happened but you look fine."

"Baachan, Anko is late for her period." Naruto said taking control of the situation.

"SHE'S WHAT?!?" Mount Tsunade just erupted.

"No need to yell Tsunade-sama. Could you please check if I'm pregnant or not?" Anko said loudly. Honestly there was no need to start shouting at them.

"I'm sorry for yelling Anko. Now why don't you lie down and lift up your shirt." Tsunade apologized. Anko nodded and did as Tsunade asked.

Tsunade placed her hand on Anko's belly just above the place where her uterus is located and activated a jutsu. She used her chakra to check if there was any life form growing inside of Anko. After a few terrifying moments she cancelled the jutsu and told Anko that she could sit up again. Naruto immediately grabbed her in a hug and waited for Tsunade's verdict.

"The both of you can relax. You're not pregnant Anko." Tsunade smiled at the couple. Anko relaxed and leaned into Naruto happy that she wasn't pregnant yet.

"Thank god!" Anko softly said before turning to Naruto. "Don't get me wrong, I want a baby but not yet."

"Don't worry Anko-chan; I feel exactly the same way." Naruto laughed.

"Yes well, that's all good and all but you two should really be more careful." Tsunade lectured them.

"We are careful; we used every means of protection!" Anko said not wanting to be treated as a child by Tsunade.

"Anko, I'm not saying this to lecture you. I'm trying to warn the both of you; if you got pregnant things would have been a mess." Tsunade said softly. "As much as I would enjoy a few grandchildren it's just not the right time."

"I know; that's why I was so afraid. It's just that I panicked when my period didn't come and I feared the worst." Anko admitted.

"Trust me I know the feeling." Tsunade laughed. "When Dan and I were together we had the same scare a few times."

"Really?" Anko asked surprised. "That doesn't sound like you at all Tsunade-sama."

"What can I say? The heat of the moment and you forget all the rest." Tsunade shrugged. Naruto just shivered at the thought of Tsunade having sex.

"Oh god please; I don't want to hear this about you Baachan." Naruto complained.

"What? I was young and in love." Tsunade smirked. "I bet I could teach Anko here a thing or two about sex."

"I'm not listening to this." Naruto said placing his hands on his ears and humming a song. Both women laughed loudly at seeing this. No matter how mature Naruto was at times he still could act like young boy every once in a while.

Once Naruto had been convinced that they weren't discussing Tsunade's sex live anymore he joined back in the conversation. Tsunade then told them that they should take the afternoon off seeing that Anko was tired and emotionally spend. Anko admitted that she hadn't slept a lot over the past few days so they accepted the free time. She also told them that she knew of a seal that would make pregnancy impossible but that there was a downside to using it. The seal used to be used by kunoichi who had to go undercover for a long time; the seal was placed just above the uterus and could be disguised as a small tattoo of some sort. Tsunade explained that if they chose to use the seal then Anko would be unable to conceive a child for five years. While five years seemed long it could be perfect seeing that Naruto would be gone for three years and even then they didn't know how long it would take to get rid of Akatsuki. In the end Naruto and Anko decided that they would think about for the time being.

Naruto and Anko took the afternoon off and stayed at home. Since it was warm and sunny they went outside and sat down on the bench just relaxing. It didn't take long for Anko to fall asleep and Naruto was in no hurry to wake her. He knew she was tired from worrying and needed the nap. After quietly making a Kage Bunshin and ordering it to fetch his scrolls in his office he started to read and work on his next idea. During his study of explosive tags he had come across something that might prove very useful but it still needed some work. If he messed up he could end up doing more harm than good. He scribbled down a few calculations before crossing them out again seeing that he made an error at the very beginning. Groaning he took another paper and started from the top again.

'Ero-sennin will pay for making me do math so much!' Naruto thought. 'I don't care how useful these tags may be. I hate math.'

An hour or two later Naruto let out a soft victory cry; after hours of hard work he had a prototype ready. He was eager to test it out but since he couldn't move without waking Anko he would have to wait. He didn't have to wait much longer though as she opened her eyes not even ten minutes later. After giving her some time too fully wake up he asked her how she felt.

"I'm okay now; just a little tired." Anko told him.

"You know; while I'm glad that you're not pregnant yet the thought of being a dad wasn't so bad." Naruto admitted to her.

"I know but now isn't the time." She replied. She too hadn't mind the prospect of being a mother. "One day I tell you the same exact news and then we'll look forward to the day our baby is born."

"I can't wait for that day to happen." Naruto softly said.

"But before that happens you'll have to marry me mister." Anko said poking him in the chest.

"Consider it done, Anko-chan." Naruto laughed.

* * *

Tsunade sighed when she saw the mountain of paperwork that had been brought in by Shizune. She just couldn't understand how it was possible that so much paperwork needed her attention. Even with the help of Hideki and Sarutobi she had more than enough paperwork to deal with. She just couldn't imagine how it must have been if she didn't implemented Naruto's ideas. She would have fled by now she was sure of that.

Going through the files her eye fell on a mission scroll that just screamed for attention. She opened it and read the request; it wasn't something out of the ordinary except that it asked for specific shinobi to complete it. It happened from time to time that clients requested a particular team or individual that they had worked with before. This request however was a bit weird because it mentioned the words 'our heroes' and 'saviors' several times. She looked at the names before rereading the scroll; she frowned and hastily scribbled two names of her own on the list. She called in an Anbu and ordered him to fetch the names on the list. The Anbu nodded and disappeared; leaving Tsunade alone in her office. She wouldn't have to wait very long; she knew they were all training together so they should be here shortly.

The Anbu, who didn't like to play messenger boy but obeyed anyway out of fear, arrived at the training grounds and went straight for the Jounin's. He had worked several time with them and held them in high regard. So in a polite tone he informed that Team 8 and 7 was asked to see Tsunade as soon as possible. Kurenai, Anko and Kakashi nodded and called their teams and together they sped towards the Hokage tower. Even Kakashi had learned to be on time when Tsunade called him; she had threatened to knee him in the family jewels if he ever came late when she called for him. Needless to say Kakashi didn't want that to happen anytime soon so he just came on time. He did however come extra late for everything else in compensation.

After being admitted to her office Tsunade first assigned both Anko and Kurenai to a mission involving a missing Nin from Kumo who had been sighted inside Konoha's borders. They were to apprehend him and question him a soon as possible. They also had to keep him alive so they could turn him out to Kumo so they had to work carefully. They would be assisted by Kotetsu and Izumo who would be waiting for them at the front gate the next morning. Both women nodded showing they understood the mission and that they would get it done just the way Tsunade wanted it.

"Alright, now for the rest of you." Tsunade said grabbing the scroll she had been looking at earlier. "We received a request for a mission by a certain Tazuna. Does that name ring any bells?"

"You mean Tazuna-san from Wave?" Kiba blurred out.

"That's exactly who I mean Kiba." Tsunade said smiling. "Tazuna-san requests a shinobi team to help neighboring villages deal with a series of missing people. It seems that over the past few weeks several children and young adult have been abducted from under their nose."

"How many people are we talking about Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked seriously.

"According to his info about twenty to thirty people in the past four months." Tsunade sighed. "At first they thought that the people had run away or something but now it's obvious there's foul play involved."

"You want us to find out what is going on?" Kakashi said understanding the mission before Tsunade even explained it.

"No, the mission is to find the missing people and dispose of the people responsible for their disappearance." Tsunade corrected him. "Tazuna-san asked specifically for Team 8; he even called them 'their heroes'. Could someone explain that to me?"

Team 8 was only too happy to explain what had happened on their first mission to Wave. When they got to the part where they defeated Zabuza and Haku however they became somewhat sad and their enthusiasm seemed to go down a bit. That mission had been the first mission where they had to kill in order to survive and the things that happened there would be something they wouldn't forget for the rest of their lives. Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke listened closely and were surprised to hear the details of the story for the first time. They had known of course what had happened since things like that didn't stay secret for very long but hearing the story from Team 8 themselves was a whole other thing. Kakashi's respect for them increased even more as he admired the teamwork they had shown during that mission; this is what he envisioned when he talked about teamwork. Sakura too was amazed at her friends but since she had already heard the story from Hinata before she wasn't as shocked as Sasuke. Speaking of Sasuke; he was fuming when he heard the story. The things they had done were something that he could only dream off. All those months ago he wouldn't have stood a chance against a Jounin let alone one as strong as Zabuza. And from what he heard that Haku guy wasn't a pushover either. To hear that these losers had fought at such a level only angered him more. He would have to increase his training or otherwise he would be left behind and he wouldn't allow that to happen.

"I see; you freed the country out of the clutches of a power hungry asshole thus enabling the country to get back on its feet." Tsunade nodded. "No wonder they hold you all in such high regard. Well for this mission Team 8 and 7 will be working together with Kakashi as leader and Naruto as second in command. It's safe to assume that you might encounter shinobi or a highly organized network of criminals so be careful. You leave tomorrow at the crack of dawn so you better go prepare."

"Hai Tsunade-sama." They all said before dismissing themselves from her office.

Once outside Kiba congratulated Naruto for receiving his first mission where he had a leader position. Naruto nodded but didn't feel too sure about it himself. 'Was he ready to lead a team even if Kakashi-sensei would be there to help him?' Naruto decided not to worry about it for now and just do his best. Kakashi seemed to recognize Naruto's body language and tried to reassure him by saying that he had full confidence in Naruto's leader abilities. That seemed to do the trick and every doubt disappeared from Naruto's mind.

* * *

The next morning the two teams were ready to head out to Wave for their mission. After the customary check of their equipment Team 8 and 7 left Konoha. Kakashi had said that they would travel for a few hours and then they would rest and come up with a plan. The genin had accepted and now they were jumping and sprinting through the forest as fast as possible. For the next few hours nothing really happened and they made excellent progress. Kakashi however noticed that Sakura and Hinata were running low on chakra and decided that this was far enough. He put up his hand and made motion to the ground showing them that he wanted to rest. After a quick scout of their surroundings thanks to Hinata's Byakugan and set up camp.

"Alright, we'll rest for two hours and then we continue our journey." Kakashi said after drinking some water. "Naruto, how far are we from Wave and how much longer till we get there?"

"It's hard to say Kakashi-sensei. We travelled with a civilian so it took much longer to get there." Naruto said thinking. "If I were to guess I would say that we're not that far from the bridge. Maybe a few more hours."

"Okay, once we reach that bridge you'll lead the way to this Tazuna-san's house." Kakashi said.

"Ano Kakashi-sensei, I think it would be best if we disguise ourselves once we're close to the bridge." Hinata said to him.

"Why is that Hinata?" The one-eyed Jounin asked her.

"Well, like you heard the people of Wave consider us their heroes." Hinata said. "If they saw us then word would spread around Wave and maybe the kidnappers would hear it as well."

"Off course, they would be on guard and even stop abducting people so we won't be able to find them." Sakura continued.

"Excellent thinking Hinata. We'll use a simple 'Henge' to disguise ourselves." Kakashi agreed.

After catching their breath and eating something the group of shinobi continued their way towards Wave. Every once in a while Kakashi would ask Hinata, Kiba and Shino to check their surroundings but they made it to the bridge without any trouble. So far they hadn't been spotted or the information that they were coming to Wave hadn't leaked much to his pleasure. Like Tsunade had told them the day before he too thought that they would have to deal with shinobi later on. It was almost certain since no one but a shinobi could move in and kidnap people from their own house without getting caught or noticed. He wondered what kind of enemies they would have to deal with.

When Hinata told them that she could see the bridge with her Byakugan Kakashi ordered a stop so they could disguise themselves. They all used the 'Henge' to change them in a group of traveling family members and friends. If someone would look at them they would see a middle aged man with six teenagers. It was a strange sight but nobody would think of them as a Jounin sensei, a Chuunin and five genin. They would be noticed by shinobi but they doubted that they would encounter them so far from the villages where the people had disappeared. When they were all set they walked to the bridge just like normal civilians. Half an hour later they once again laid eyes at the bridge that they helped defend all those months ago.

"What the hell." Kiba exclaimed loudly making everyone look at him.

"What's wrong Kiba? Did you see something?" Kakashi asked wondering if the young genin had seen something he had missed.

"Look at that!" Kiba pointed to the large sign that was hung on the entrance of the bridge. They all looked up and saw what Kiba meant. On a wooden sign the name of the bridge was written in red letters. It clearly read 'The Great Naruto Bridge'. Naruto immediately blushed and stared at the sign; he was just as surprised as the rest of Team 8. He asked himself why they had named the bridge solely after him when the whole team had helped. He didn't want to take credit for the others as well. Just then Sakura called them over and they all went to stand next to her. She pointed at a large bronze plate that was placed at the side of the entrance. She started to read out loud.

"_This bridge represents the courage and hope of all the people in Wave. When our country was in trouble and our people were in need of help it took only a few courageous men and women to take a stand and fight. These men and women showed us that no matter how bad the situation is there is always hope as long as we believe in ourselves and if we do the right thing. Without these heroes our country would have fallen and our people would have suffered far more. That is why we thank those heroes from the bottom of our hearts. We want them to know that their sacrifice and actions will never be forgotten. _

_This bridge is also dedicated to the brave shinobi who defeated the evil that was threatening our beloved country. Even though they had no obligations beyond their mission they stayed and did what is right. The people of Wave will never forget Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, Hyuuga Hinata, Mitarashi Anko, Uzumaki Naruto and Yuuhi Kurenai. They are heroes that will live in our hearts forever."_

"Wow, that's amazing. Tazuna-san really did a marvelous job here." Naruto said deeply impressed with the words and how the bridge looked. When they had left it was only a bridge but now it was so much more. It was a monument for those who had helped building it and it was a reminder that one should never give up no matter what.

"And our name is written here as well." Kiba quietly said so only the group could hear. He knew better than to say such things out loud.

"It appears our deeds and actions are deeply appreciated." Shino said softly.

"Yes well let's move on shall we?" Kakashi said. He understood that they were happy and proud but now wasn't the time to think about it. They had a mission to complete.

When they crossed the bridge they travelled toward the village. They still remembered how the village looked during Gato's reign; people begging for some money or food and children starving at the side of the road with nobody to take care of them. When they reached the village however they saw that things had changed for the better. People were happily walking around and children were playing in the street with any care in the world. Shops were filled with products and food was not an issue judging from the several food stands on the marketplace. The country had truly recovered from the damage Gato and his men had inflicted.

While walking through the village Naruto and his friends couldn't help but feel very happy and proud. They were happy to see the people of Wave content and full of joy and they felt proud that they had helped a whole country in need. In the few weeks that they were here they had seen the village in its worst and still they had been accepted by all of them; especially after Gato was defeated. Naruto and Kiba leaded them toward Tazuna's house and after walking for twenty minutes or so they came unto a familiar house. It seemed that Tazuna hadn't let the fame go to his head. After telling everyone to hide, Naruto knocked on the door and patiently waited for someone to open up. He didn't have wait long though as the door opened not 10 seconds later.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked gently.

"Hello Tsunami-san, it's good to see you again." Naruto said to her.

"Euh do we know each other?" She said surprised. She was pretty sure that she had never met the young man standing before her.

"Oh right the henge." Naruto said stupidly. He then looked around and dispelled the henge returning to his usual self. Tsunami goggled at the transformation but immediately recognized who it was.

"Naruto-kun, is that really you?" She said surprised before grabbing him in a hug.

"Yep, it's me alright." Naruto grinned. "We received your father's request and came as soon as possible."

"We?" Tsunami said while looking around but seeing no one. She gasped however when the rest of group appeared from all around her. She knew shinobi were capable of extraordinary things but she was still not used to seeing people appear out of thin air.

"Hello Tsunami-san, it's nice seeing you again; could we continue our discussion inside?" Hinata said greeting the woman.

Tsunami nodded and invited them in. Team 8 already knew the layout of the house so they took of their shoes and went inside the living room. Team 7 followed Tsunami inside and when she told them to take a seat they sat down. Tsunami offered them some tea which they gratefully accepted. She also told them that her father was working in a nearby village building a small dam to reroute the river for more effective farming. When Hinata asked about Inari she proudly said that he was at school but should be home in about an hour. She was very proud of her little boy who had grown up a great deal after the whole Gato incident.

It didn't take long for Tazuna to arrive and when he noticed that they had guests he quickly went inside. Upon seeing the familiar faces of Naruto and the rest of Team 8 he smiled in relief. In his opinion they were the only ones who could help them with their problem. After greeting them and being introduced to the rest of the team they talk for a bit about things had changed around the village and Wave in particular. Tazuna gladly told them what he had been working on and how well things were going for them.

"I'm so glad to see you guys again." Tazuna said while drinking a bit of sake. "Now that you're here everything will be fine."

"Tazuna-san, could you please explain what you know about the situation?" Kakashi asked him.

"Sure but I don't know that much either. It all started a few months ago when a young couple disappeared." Tazuna said filling his saucer with sake once more. "At first the people in the village thought they had eloped; you know how young love is. But a week later another person disappeared without anyone noticing. This time it was a man in his thirties with no family but he was well known in the village. So when he disappeared without a trace people got worried. After that more and more people vanished; the neighboring village's too had some people missing over those last few weeks. Now about forty missing persons have been reported."

"Did anyone see anything?" Kiba asked.

"Nobody saw a thing and that's what got me worried." Tazuna said nodding. "Rumor says that some people were kidnapped straight out of their own homes."

The shinobi looked at each other and nodded. They instinctively knew that they would have to deal with missing-nin; only a trained shinobi could get away with kidnapping and abducting people out of their own homes without anyone noticing. A shinobi was trained to infiltrate homes and building without leaving a mark or clue. They also realized that they would probably face several of them seeing at the large number of people that had been kidnapped. A single shinobi wouldn't be able to do that so they deduced that they would have to deal with an organized group. They didn't say anything to Tazuna though not wanting him to worry. The conversation was interrupted however when the door opened and a smiling Inari entered the room.

Inari had run home like he always did after school ended. He loved going to school and making new friends but once school was over he went home as soon as he could. He loved spending time with his mother now even more than before. When some of the thugs Gato had hired tried to kidnap his mother all those months ago he realized that he could lose her at any time. That's why he loved being with his mom and grandfather even if some of his friends and classmates called him a mama's boy. He didn't care about any of that besides he knew they didn't mean anything bad with it seeing as most of his friends were either orphans or had lost their own mother or father during Gato's reign of terror.

When he saw all the shinobi boots at the entrance of the hallway he knew that his idols had arrived. Even after all these months Inari still admired them for their actions and the help they had given him. He had made a promise to become just as strong as they were. He didn't want to become a shinobi but he wanted to be brave and never give up just like they did. He rushed to the living room hoping to impress them.

"Inari, calm down will you." Tsunami said not approving of Inari running around the house like crazy.

"Naruto-nichan, Kiba-nichan, Shino-nichan, and Hinata-neechan you're back!" Inari yelled happily. The mentioned boy's and girl laughed and nodded at the young boy.

"Good to see you again Inari." They all said together.

"You've grown a lot Inari. I can tell from looking at you." Naruto said while putting a hand on Inari's shoulder. "How are you doing?"

That was all it took before Inari launched into his explanation about what he had been doing so far and how much had happened to him since they had left. He told them that he made several good friends and that they had helped restoring the town to its former glory by helping his grandfather and his crew. He also told them how much he loved school and that he dreamed of following in his father and grandfathers footsteps by becoming smart and strong enough to protect Wave.

Later that night after a lovely and amicable diner the Konoha shinobi huddled together to discuss the things they had learned from Tazuna and to come up with a plan of action. They would have to be careful not to tip off the kidnappers too early otherwise they would just disappear underground. First of all they needed information and to get that they would investigate the villages where most people had gone missing. Thanks to a simple 'henge' they wouldn't be discovered as they doubted that the missing nin would show themselves in broad daylight. Once they got an idea they would have to search for any leads and clues to find them.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you think that we'll have to face strong missing-nin?" Sakura asked a bit worried.

"I'm afraid that we'll have no other choice Sakura." Kakashi nodded. "But don't worry I'm here to help you guy's. Besides all of you have been training very hard over the past few months. You're stronger than you think."

"Yeah don't worry Sakura-chan. We'll take care of them while you and Hinata deal with the wounded and evacuate them." Naruto said to her.

"That's not a bad idea Naruto." Kakashi admitted. "The five of us" while pointing at the boys "will deal with the missing-nin and you girls heal and protect the hostages."

"Alright, hear that Akamaru?" Kiba said while petting his partner. "Finally some action."

"Hn, just don't get in my way dog breath." Sasuke said from his corner. "Once I dealt with them there won't be anything left for you."

"What did you say?" Kiba said angry.

"Now, now don't say that Sasuke. Kiba is just as capable as you are and I'm sure there will be enough fighting for everyone." Kakashi said trying to calm the two boys down. He really needed to talk to Sasuke about his behavior he realized. Being arrogant like that could cost him his life in battle. Also he needed to learn that sometimes you need help to deal with a stronger opponent. Kakashi then finished the meeting by instructing them to get a good night sleep so that they would be in full form for the next day. The group didn't waste much time and got ready for the night knowing that the next few days would be filled with investigations and spying.

* * *

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you liked this chapter as much as the rest of the story; next chapter will be more action packed and after that Sasuke's deflection will happen. Why he deflects will be clear in the next chapter or the chapter after so keep tuned for the next chapter.

The next chapter will be released again in two weeks so see you all then.


	34. Chapter 34: Kidnapped and counterattack

I don't own Naruto.

Hi everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story.

First of all I need to thank each and everyone of you. Yesterday this story reached its 500 000 hit and that made me very happy. I can't thank you guys enough for this. I hope that I'll be able to give you a good story in the future as well. I'll definitely won't give up or quit this story until it's completely finished so no worries there.

Does anyone else buy the Naruto game on PS3? I bought it the day it hit the stores and I must say that I like it. There are several things that disappointed me however. The fact that they skipped the wave arc for instance. Zabuza and Haku were great characters in my opinion. The rest of the story mode is okay IMO but they could have done better. Hopefully there will be other games and maybe then they will do better. Graphics and gameplay is great but that was expected from this game.

Anyway enough with the rambling. Enjoy the chapter and let me know how it was.

* * *

Chapter 34: Kidnapped and counterattack

The next morning came very soon for the Konoha shinobi and they spend the morning planning for their investigation. They had decided that they would split up in several groups to visit the affected towns so that they wouldn't waste time going from village to village. They would look for any suspicious behavior or individuals in or around the towns hoping to find some clues. They didn't expect to find anything right away but Kakashi hoped that they would get lucky. Luckily the villages weren't too far from each other so in case of an emergency they could come to help the others. They would also remain in civilian outfit and disguised so they wouldn't attract too much attention to themselves.

Kakashi's orders were to look in bars and other establishments where one might find such shady characters. Of course he wouldn't let either Hinata or Sakura wander alone is such a hostile environment so they were paired with one of the guys. Naruto would take Sakura with him while Team 8 would stay together as well; Sasuke was to go with him since Kakashi knew that he wouldn't be able to work well with either of the other genin. The others too seemed relieved at the fact that they wouldn't have to deal with the arrogant Uchiha.

"Alright, any questions?" Kakashi asked his team. Seeing that no one had any complaints or questions he continued. "Good. We'll travel together to the separation point and from there we'll split up. You each have your objectives and remember under no circumstances are you to make contact with the enemy. If you notice something weird or unusual keep it in mind and report it tonight. Also don't do anything that might blow your cover. "

Since they were disguised as simple civilians they had to leave much of their equipment at Tazuna's home but that didn't mean they weren't armed. Naruto and Team 8 still had their special belt from the Chuunin exams where they could seal several things inside. It only took a few minutes to unseal any unnecessary stuff and seal some extra kunai and shuriken. Naruto even sealed his sword in his belt not wanting to leave without it. Sakura who didn't have such a belt hid some weapons inside her dress with ease so she was safe as well. Kakashi didn't really need any weapons as he was strong enough to deal with most enemies without them but to make sure put some kunai and shuriken in his pocket. Sasuke didn't want to be the only one without any weapons and did the same as Kakashi.

The group bid Tazuna and his family a good day before they left. The crossroad where they would be separating was about four hours walking from the village they were at now. From that point they would reach their designated target in only half an hour or so. Just like before they had walk like any other civilian so the trip took quite some time. When they finally reached their destination they all nodded at each other and went their own way.

The rest of the way to the village Naruto and Sakura spent in relative silence; they had already discussed everything worth discussing about the mission and any mention of it would only endanger the mission. Naruto had even asked Sakura not to call him by his name since the name Naruto wasn't that common. When she asked what she would have to call him he shrugged and told her to call him Arashi. She chuckled saying that the meaning of his real name being maelstrom and Arashi meaning storm actually made sense. Naruto laughed and said that his name was given to him by Jiraiya who had come up with while eating ramen. Sakura couldn't decide if she should laugh at hearing that or pitying Naruto for being named after a ramen ingredient. When they reached the village they immediately saw that it was nothing like the village Tazuna lived in; this village was more of a gathering of a few dozen homes and families. It wouldn't take long before they finished walking through it so they took their time looking at the few shops and talking to the people still disguised as a couple of travelers. They didn't learn much but they still came to the conclusion that it was highly unlikeable that the kidnappers would come back here. According to Tazuna they were focused on healthy and young people and not the elderly who were the only people that still remained here. A bit disappointed they returned after making sure that they had the general layout of the village noted down just in case. After exiting the village they made a small detour before heading back to the point of rendezvous with the rest.

Hinata, Kiba and Shino had been selected to visit the second town where most of the victims had disappeared; this city was significantly larger than Tazuna's village making it very easy for them to fit into the crowd. They surveyed the town paying close attention to the layout and the possible weak points that could be used to sneak in and smuggle people out without anyone noticing. It became very clear to them that there were multiple exits to choose from making their work a whole lot harder. In terms of people all ages and sorts lived in the village making this town a prime target for kidnapping. From what they had heard the kidnappers choose their targets by age and health; especially people between 15 and 30 were abducted both male and female. Kakashi had made the remark that they probably weren't any prostitution handlers since they also kidnapped men so it had to be slave traders. This had shocked all of them not understanding how such a practice could still exist in this day and age. Kakashi regretfully informed that such things would probably never disappear out of its own so that's why they were here for.

While walking through the village they paid special attention to any suspicious people as well; thugs on the street heard things that no ordinary civilian would so it was a good idea to get close to them. Of course you didn't just walk up to one of them and asked questions since that would alert them that something was going on. You had to spike their interest by selling or buying something and that way you might get lucky and hear something of interest. After they confirmed several locations where the town's thugs came together to gamble or drink, the three of them continued through town without any trouble. It didn't take long to return to the point of rendezvous where Naruto and Sakura were already waiting.

Kakashi and Sasuke didn't need much time either; they scouted the village fairly quick as it was only a bit bigger than Tazuna's village. They did however notice some very shady bars and places where a lot of information could be gathered if they played their cards right but that was for later on. This village seemed to be composed mostly out of elderly people or very young children making it unlikely that the kidnappers would return. Sasuke however wasn't as pleased when returning to meet the others; he had hoped to find something so he could show the rest how good he truly was but unfortunately nothing came up.

* * *

When the group reached Tazuna's house again later that very day they went straight inside to discuss their findings. One by one the group told what they had found and their thoughts about what they had seen. It became clear that the second village was the most likely target for abduction while the two other villages were more suited for gathering information. Especially the village that Kakashi and Sasuke had visited was an ideal place to find out more about the kidnappers.

"Alright, since we have established that we need more information we're going to go undercover." Kakashi said after their report. "I've spotted several bars where a lot of thugs come late at night."

"How are we going to do that?" Kiba asked curious.

"Well, it's pretty simple actually." Kakashi started explaining. "We spend a bit of time in those bars, under a henge of course, and listen in on the conversations."

"So you're hoping that one of the kidnappers will be there and spill his guts in a drunken frenzy?" Naruto nodded understanding.

"I can guarantee you that that's exactly what is going to happen." Kakashi said with a smile although it was hidden under his mask.

"So who is going to do that?" Sakura asked. She wasn't thrilled hearing that she might have to spend evenings with drunken men in a bar. She could already imagine the sort of people that she would have to talk with and frankly she hated the thought of having one of those men trying his moves on her.

"Don't worry Sakura." Naruto said knowing why she wasn't very enthusiastic about this. "I'm sure Kakashi-sensei will send one of the guys."

"Of course; I wouldn't want to risk something happening to either you or Hinata." Kakashi said reassuring both girls. Although some kunoichi would be asked to perform more intimate duties on missions; those kunoichi were always volunteers and much older than Sakura. It was something nobody liked to do but unfortunately sometimes it was required. The kunoichi who did accept such missions were highly respected and heavily compensated for their sacrifice.

The rest of the evening they spend with assigning Naruto, Kiba and Sasuke to a bar and they had worked out a background for each of their characters. Shino was asked as backup since he could keep an eye on them by placing a bug on each of them. That would allow him to find them even when they were a large distance away. Kakashi would also stay on guard while Sakura and Hinata would stay at Tazuna's place until they found something.

* * *

Over the next few nights the three boys joined the night scene at the bars. So far they hadn't come up with much but they were slowly getting known in the bars by now. At first they had to gain a bit of trust with the regular customers but that was something that was easily fixed by buying a few drinks to the right people. Naruto was headed to the table were the heavy thugs were sitting; the table was filled with some of the biggest pieces of scum he had ever known. Drug dealers, thieves, murderers, rapists and who knows what more but he couldn't do anything about them know so he kept his anger and resentment under control. He clapped one of the men on the back to get his attention; the man was called Hiroshi, a big time drug dealer who had gotten friendly with Naruto the night before. Hiroshi and Naruto, known as Kenji at the moment, had played some card game and Naruto of course let him win.

"Ah Kenji, glad you could make man." Hiroshi said happily.

"Hey, I've got to get my money back somehow don't I?" Naruto answered smoothly.

"Well buddy, I wouldn't count on it." Hiroshi said laughing. "How about I pay you a drink?"

"Keep it coming man." Naruto smiled before sitting down. He threw some money on the table and asked for some cards. Tonight he would have to get some information from them; the mission had been going on for a week now and there had been no sign of the kidnappers. They weren't on a timetable or anything but they couldn't afford to take so much time just for finding them. As hours passed and Naruto won and lost money at the game the other players were getting seriously drunk and Naruto saw an opportunity to ask some questions.

"Hey Hiroshi, you heard anything about them kidnappings lately?" Naruto asked giving the man another beer.

"Sure did Kenji. I know a guy who knows a guy that saw one of the gang." Hiroshi slurred after taking a drink. "Don't know who they are but he said that they're coming back."

"No way, you're messing with me." Naruto said throwing his cards on the table shocked.

"No man, it's the truth." Hiroshi said trying to sneak a peek at his neighbors' cards. "According to him they need manpower for something."

"So why do they need manpower?" Naruto asked prudently.

"Don't have a clue." Hiroshi shrugged. "Why are you so interested?"

"I'm not interested in them kidnappings but if there's money to be made I'm there." Naruto said quickly.

"Aren't we all Kenji my man?" Hiroshi laughed.

At that point Naruto thought it was better to stop asking questions about the subject; he didn't want to raise suspicions by asking too many questions. He had learned something so there was no need to blow his cover just yet. He continued the game and endured the drunken ramblings from the men at the table for a few more hours. When he finally left the bar he noticed someone following him so he took a little detour just to be sure. His follower didn't let up and kept trailing him; when Naruto had enough he turned around and waited for the man to turn the corner.

"You got some problem with me?" Naruto asked.

"No man, no problem but maybe a proposition." The man said surprised.

"I'm listening." Naruto said interested.

"Okay, my sources tell me that in three days those kidnappers will be back." The man said quietly making sure nobody overheard. "I was thinking that maybe we can use the distraction to enrich ourselves by emptying the places of the people they kidnap."

"Are your sources solid? I wouldn't want to get caught in the confusion." Naruto said inwardly jumping for joy when heard this information.

"They're solid, my brother knows a guy who's involved with these kidnappings?" The man said reassuringly.

"Three days from now? What town because there isn't much to get around here that is interesting enough to risk this?" Naruto said pretending to think about it.

"You can say that again but they're planning to hit the town of Wabu. There's plenty of stuff there we can get." The man nodded.

"Alright I'm in." Naruto said

"Great, meet me at the south gate at eleven pm." The man said before turning around and disappearing in the dark.

Naruto hurried home eager to tell the rest of the group that they finally had a lead on the group. Once he was a safe distance away he dropped the henge and it didn't take long to reach Tazuna's house. He went inside and greeted the rest who were waiting for him. Apparently he was the only one who stayed that long. Sasuke was just finishing his report when Naruto entered so he quietly sat down and listened to what Sasuke had to say.

"Other than old drunks who complain about everything I haven't learned anything." Sasuke said moody. "There's nothing to learn from those men."

"Alright Sasuke thanks for your effort and I agree with you." Kakashi said. "Maybe it's time to switch to another bar?"

"Actually that won't be necessary Kakashi-sensei." Naruto interrupted. "I've learned some interesting things tonight."

"Well, tell us Naruto. No need to keep us waiting." Kakashi said smiling.

Naruto started telling what he had learned and how he agreed to go on a stealing spree with that man. Of course Naruto had no intention of actually following up on that promise but the man didn't know that. Unfortunately they couldn't move against the man since that might blow their cover but they could always alert the local authorities about him. Naruto then explained that he wanted to do. He told them that he wanted someone to get caught by the kidnappers and that way they could follow them to their hideout and the other victims.

"That's not a bad idea, Naruto." Kakashi admitted. "Who do you suggest?"

"Well, definitely not one of the girls." Naruto said looking at them. "You all know what happens when young girls are prisoners and there is no way I'm risking that to happing to either of you." Sakura and Hinata nodded knowing that women were mostly used for pleasuring the men and neither of them wanted to be submitted to that. "Kakashi-sensei is way too recognizable so you're out as well. Kiba and Shino are the one with the best tracking skills so it wouldn't be smart to let them be captured as well. That leaves either Sasuke or me."

"Good thinking. Shino can leave a bug on you and use his other bugs to track you down." Kakashi said looking at Shino who nodded indicating that he was capable of that. "And Kiba and Akamaru can use your scent. Who do you think is more suited for the job?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

"Personally I believe I'm the best option." Naruto said calmly.

"Why?" Kakashi said wanting to know Naruto's reasoning.

"No offence to Sasuke but he's a risk factor." Naruto said while looking at Sasuke who seemed to get angrier by the second. "Let me explain; you are the descendent of a famous clan and have a very well known Kekkei Genkai. If by accident you activate your Sharingan every shinobi present will know who you are. I, on the other hand am from a very small clan that's relatively unknown making it easier for me to go undercover."

Naruto saw Sasuke smirk when he gave his reasons. No doubt his ego had been stroked by saying that his clan and Kekkei Genkai were so famous throughout the shinobi world. Not that it wasn't true; the Uchiha had made a name for themselves over the years and everyone knew of the Sharingan. It was a most annoying thing to have your jutsu copied and used against you during battle not to mention the other powers of the Sharingan that gave the Uchiha so many advantages. Of course their reputation had taken a hit when Itachi slaughtered everyone all those years ago but Naruto knew better than to rub that in. He wouldn't wish such a fate on his worst enemy; to have your family killed in front of you when you're just a kid is something nobody should experience.

"Don't worry Dobe; your clan isn't the only one who can't measure up to the Uchiha clan." Sasuke smirked at him. Naruto ignored his taunt but Kiba didn't.

"Except in numbers then there are several clans who surpass the Uchiha." Kiba whispered to Shino and Hinata who nodded. Fortunately Sasuke didn't hear the comment but Kakashi did and gave Kiba a stern look.

"Sasuke please refrain from insulting other clans. Naruto explained his reasons and I agree." Kakashi said sternly. He wouldn't allow him to insult other people's clans like that. "Very well Naruto do you have any idea how to get caught?"

"I hope that if I happen to be asleep on the side of the road they won't be able to pass up an easy opportunity." Naruto shrugged.

"Alright then in three days we start our counterattack. Let's rest for tonight and starting tomorrow we start planning." Kakashi said dismissing everyone.

* * *

The next morning Naruto was up early and helped Tsunami preparing breakfast while talking about Konoha and what had happened between him and Anko. Tsunami was very glad to hear that they were still together and she was surprised that they were living together as well. Naruto explained about the house and how slowly but surely they were moving to it. Tsunami agreed that it would be pointless to pay rent if they had a house at their disposition. A half hour later breakfast was served and everyone was quietly eating at the table. Inari had school today so he left when his friends from school came to get him and Tazuna was leaving shortly after that to work on another project of his.

Kakashi and the group went outside and started planning their attack; first of all came the safety of the victims so Sakura and Hinata were charged with healing the wounded as much as possible and then lead them away from the battlefield. That meant that they would have to be well rested and well prepared. So they set out to prepare their aid kit by stocking lots of bandages and medicine. Also food pills and soldier pills were equipped knowing that some people would be too tired or hungry to be able to keep up.

Sasuke, Kiba and Shino stacked up on weapons and prepared their pouches and holster with everything they could think of. Naruto however was busy drawing some seals on his bare skin and when Kiba asked why he was doing that Naruto explained that he couldn't carry his normal weapons in plain sight. As they were sure that there were Missing-Nins involved they would surely notice any concealed weapons on him. That's why he would seal his sword and his other weapon into several small seals that stay invisible unless you focused some chakra into them. That way he would still be armed and ready to fight.

"But why don't you just seal your belt into a seal?" Kiba asked. "That way you only need one seal."

"That would be a very bad idea, Kiba." Kakashi said overhearing their discussion. "Sealing a storage scroll into another storage seal is something you should never do. In fact it is the first thing a seal master should know and learn."

"Why? What happens if you do?" Kiba asked curiously.

"The seals would have violent reactions to each other." Naruto explained. "The energies that make up the seals would implode and create a very unstable seal capable of exploding at any given point."

Kiba nodded and vowed to remember that even if he never used more than the normal scroll he bought or received from Naruto any way. He didn't want his scroll to explode while being so close to his family jewels. When Naruto was done drawing his seals on his body he grabbed his sword from his back and sealed into the seal on his right hand. He focused some chakra and with a small cloud of smoke his sword appeared neatly into his hand. After that he sealed several throwing knives into his left hand and to finish he sealed his exploding tags into the back of his hands. Content that he was armed enough he took his belt of and put it on the ground. He flashed through some handseals and said 'Kuchiyose No Jutsu' and a small red toad appeared.

"Yo Naruto, need help?" the frog said looking at his summoner.

"Hi, Gamakichi how are you?" Naruto said smiling. "I have a question for you. Could you keep my belt and headband with you until I summon you again?"

"Sure thing bro, but it's going to cost you some sweets." Gamakichi said sticking out his webbed hand.

"Deal, I'll give you 2 bags of sweets after the job." Naruto agreed.

"Done." Gamakichi said and grabbed the belt and disappeared with a small poof.

From the sidelines one very pissed off Sasuke had followed the conversations and witnessed Naruto summoning that toad. Once again he was reminded that the Dobe of the class had surpassed him in several areas. He knew nothing of seals expect how to use a storage scroll and even then he didn't know how to create one. He bought them at a shinobi store or used the ones left at his clan's weapon room. While he wasn't interested in seals or anything it made him angry that Naruto could make his own seals with such relative ease. He knew that seals were an area that not many shinobi bothered with since it was so difficult to master to begin with. He got even madder when he saw Naruto summon that toad; everybody knew that the Toads were one of the great Konoha summons together with the Snakes, the Slugs and the Apes.

Summons were pretty rare and not everyone had a summon available to them. He knew that Kakashi had a few dogs that he could summon but other than that he didn't know anyone else that could summon. Of course he should have known that Naruto would be allowed to sign the Toad contract as he was now the apprentice of Jiraiya not to mention his dad had used the Toads as well. It angered him that Naruto was given all these chances while he was stuck with just normal training. He just couldn't understand why Jiraiya didn't choose him as a successor instead of Naruto. What was so special about the Dobe?

Over the past few weeks Sasuke had been training with the rest of the group and while he had made some progress it wasn't enough. When he looked at the others they seemed to progress much faster than he was and it frustrated him to no end. Sure some of the things he learned could be of help but most of the jutsu he learned were low level and he was sure that he wouldn't defeat Itachi with a few D or C ranked jutsu. He needed powerful jutsu that could do a lot of damage but Kakashi and the rest of the Jounin were unwilling to teach them such jutsu. According to them he had to learn these weaker jutsu in order to be able to fully understand the more powerful jutsu. It was all bullshit to him; the way he saw it was that they didn't want him to get too strong too fast. He was seriously considering just leaving the group and training on his own. The problem with that was that he wouldn't have anyone to teach him so that wasn't a solution either. He sighed and decided that he would have to endure for the time being until he found a way to get some real training. He would have to think about it later on since Kakashi called them all together for some last instructions.

* * *

The next three days went fairly fast for everyone; Naruto, Kiba and Sasuke continued to visit the bars hoping to find out some extra information but nothing had come up. Naruto however did meet up with his would be accomplice to discuss their plan for stealing from the abductees but other than that nothing happened. So on the evening of the attack Kakashi and the gang were getting ready to execute their plan. Naruto was disguised as a homeless young men; he didn't use a henge deciding that it was a risk not worth taking. He would pretend to be asleep alongside the road the kidnappers used. He was convinced that they wouldn't be able to pass up the chance for an extra victim.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'll leave a Kage Bunshin with the rest of you." Naruto said suddenly. "When you're ready to start the attack just hit it and I'll know what to do."

"I see you use the Kage Bunshin's abilities quite well don't you Naruto?" Kakashi said nodding. "Shino, please place the bug on Naruto."

Shino nodded and instructed one of his bugs to hide itself in Naruto's hair. He then explained that the bug was emitting a very strong scent that attracted the male of the species from miles away. That way he would be able to track Naruto no matter where he went. It was also very useful that the scent wasn't noticeable to humans so there was no chance of being detected. Naruto thanked his teammate and nodded at his explanation.

The gang left the house fairly early so they wouldn't miss the kidnappers and hid themselves just outside the village of Wabu. For the next few hours they waited in silence; when it became dark they were extra careful and Hinata had been charged to use her Byakugan to spot the kidnappers. Several hours later, just before 11pm she notified them that a group of about twenty men were approaching the village. Kakashi nodded to Naruto who promptly left so he could take his position.

It didn't take long for the kidnappers to find their victims and soon the group was traveling back to where they came from. The victims had been gagged so they couldn't scream and they had been bound by chains so they couldn't escape. Naruto had placed himself along the road about 2 miles from the village pretending to be asleep. The kidnappers were laughing loudly and were boasting about their success. When they finally reached Naruto they didn't hesitate and kicked him awake.

"Look at this sucker." One of the men said pointing at the blonde. "Don't you know these roads are dangerous?"

"Please sir, I have no money or anything of value." Naruto stammered pretending to be afraid. "I'm just a homeless beggar."

"Don't worry; we're not here to steal your money." The man said laughing before he punched Naruto in the gut. Naruto hardly felt it but played along. He fell on the ground holding his stomach and gasped for air. "Hey, gag the bastard and put him in the line. He's healthy enough to work."

Naruto struggled a bit but let him be chained and gagged. So far everything went according to plan and he knew his friends were following him from a distance. For hours they walked through the woods until they hoisted into several wagons and at high speed they were transported. It was another few hours later that they finally arrived at the kidnappers' hideout. From there they were thrown into a large wooden building were all of the other victims were as well. Chaos reigned as most of the abductees were afraid so it took some time before Naruto could ask some questions. He noticed a young man sitting in the corner and went over to talk to him.

"Hi, can you tell me what is going on? Where are we?" Naruto asked.

"You just arrived huh?" the young man said. "I don't know where we are but I can tell you that you'll wish to be somewhere else soon. These men kidnapped us so we can do heavy labor for them. Every day we are forced to work in a mine to search for precious metals."

"So basically we're slaves?" Naruto said shocked although he had suspected it.

"Yep and don't even think about escaping from here." The man said. "There are several shinobi watching and guarding us."

"Thanks for the warning." Naruto said before sitting down as well. He figured that it would take a few hours before the rest of his team would catch up with him. He looked around and sighed quietly; many of the people were malnourished or sick. Some of them were wounded as well; Sakura and Hinata would have their hands full with healing them so they could get away. There was nothing that he could do unfortunately; he had to wait until his team was here to back him up. While he hadn't seen much of the camp because of the darkness he had been able to see several tents and buildings. He had also seen several guards but none of them had been shinobi for as far as he knew. But that young man had confirmed their fear; there were several missing-Nins present.

* * *

While Naruto was being 'captured' Kakashi and the rest looked on from a distance. The attack seemed very chaotic and the kidnappers didn't bother being subtle at all. They grabbed people left and right from random houses and hurried back before a mass panic could break out. Kakashi was certain that no shinobi had been present for the actual kidnapping this time; this meant that the group felt confident enough not to get caught or they thought they were strong enough to deal with any problems they might have. This was actually a good thing because this way they didn't have to worry about being detected when they followed them to their hideout.

Once they saw that Naruto's plan had worked Shino and Kiba took the lead and they followed them. Kakashi could have done the same thing but he wanted them to do it so they could get some experience as well. He was a sensei after all. When they saw the victims being loaded into wagons they had to speed up a little bit but nothing to worry about. Kakashi was surprised however how far the kidnappers were leading them. No wonder nobody found any trace of them; they were located hours away from any village. When they finally arrived at the hideout Kakashi took control once again. He ordered Hinata to use her Byakugan to scout the area for traps and the layout of the camp. She nodded and went straight to work.

"Kakashi-sensei, there are several traps around the camp indicating shinobi presence." Hinata said softly. "The prisoners are being moved to the central building and are guarded by four men. The building is faced towards the camp but the back is faced to the forest behind it."

"What about the rest of the camp?" Kakashi nodded.

"There are two small barracks on the east side, another one on the west side as well." Hinata said calmly. "I haven't seen any shinobi but there are about 20 to 30 men in the camp."

"Okay let's get ready to start the attack." Kakashi said motioning them to get closer. "Hinata, Sakura you are to position yourselves in the forest behind the prison." The two girls nodded. "Kiba and Shino you guys take care of the two guards on the back and take out anyone who tries to get at the hostages. Sasuke you take out the small barrack at the west side while I'll deal with the two barracks on the east side. We attack in five minutes."

Kakashi then turned to Naruto's Kage Bunshin and asked if the clone understood everything. The clone nodded saying that he got everything and allowed Kakashi to hit it on the head. Kakashi nodded to his team and they went to their assigned positions. Naruto sat up a little straighter when he received the information from the clone and smirked. Thanks to the abilities of the Kage Bunshin he had now the necessary information to act. He casually stood up and walked around a bit pretending to be pacing around with his hand behind his back. The guards didn't notice how he forced some chakra in the seals on the back of his hands and two small throwing knives appeared. He quickly hid them in his sleeves and waited for the five minutes to pass. He didn't have to wait long as several explosions shook the ground and acted as a sign for him to attack.

The guards were startled by the explosions and turned their head which proved to be a big mistake. As soon as their heads were turned Naruto spun around and let his throwing knives fly. Both knives planted themselves in the skull of the guards killing them instantly. Naruto didn't waste any time and ran to the back of the building and unsealed his sword. He focused chakra into the seal coating his sword in Wind Chakra and cut a large opening in the wall. Luckily the building was made out of wood so it wasn't strong enough to withstand such an attack. He then turned to the people who were scared stiff and told them that they needed to get out of here.

Sakura and Hinata were waiting for the attack to start; alongside them were Kiba and Shino who would take out the guards as soon as the attack started. When they heard the explosion they jumped into action and two well thrown kunai took care of the guards. Kiba and Shino nodded and they separated from the girls; they went to the front of the building so they could deal with the rest of the kidnappers and bandits that would show up to protect their prisoners. Sakura saw how a large hole appeared in the back of the building and they heard Naruto yell at the people to get out of there. Hinata and Sakura ran into the building to help Naruto with calming the people down.

"Alright listen up; we're from Konoha and we were hired to free you." Naruto shouted. "We need you to get out of here as quickly as possible; don't worry you'll be perfectly safe. These are two of the best medic nin I know and they will take good care of you." Naruto said pointing at the girls. "Once you're at a safe distance they will heal those who are sick or wounded."

He then made several Kage Bunshin to carry the people who were wounded or too sick to run for themselves. The girls nodded and quickly the gathered the crowd and lead them away from the fighting that had already started. Once the building was empty Naruto quickly summoned Gamakichi for his belt and his headband and put them on.

"Thanks Gamakichi, I'll get you your sweets after this is done." Naruto said dismissing the little toad.

"No problem bro, go kick some ass." The toad said happily.

"Don't worry; they won't know what'll hit them." Naruto said before he exited the building to go help out his teammates.

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter. I hope it was a good read for all of you. Next chapter will be the attack on the camp and the aftermath of the attack. Things will get troublesome very fast now for Naruto and the rest of gang. Hope to see you in two weeks again for a new chapter. Bye for now.


	35. Chapter 35: Iwa's Stone Ox

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this story. I hope everyone had a good two weeks since the last chapter. Things are going great with me; work is fine and starting next week I'm part of a new project at work which is very exciting to me. It's the first time that I'm part of such a big project so I'll have lots of things to prove and do. I'm looking forward to it.

This chapter was writing in the last few days since I've been very busy with my extra classes in the evenings. They're great and very interesting but also very time consuming leaving me with little free time to write on my stories. Still I kind of liked this chapter and once I started things went smoothly. I hope the fights are good enough to please all of you. The chapters holds one OC that may or may not come back later in the story. I needed a character that would challenge Naruto to get stronger and I hope that this OC did that.

The OC (look at the title of the Chapter) is something I came up with at the last minute so if the OC resembles someone's character I apologize. It's not my intention to steal or use your character. If someone feels that I did that please feel free to PM me and I'll give you the credit. The name and the character just popped in my head and I decided to work with it.

* * *

Chapter 35: Iwa's Stone Ox

Naruto didn't waste any time and jumped into the fight. After making sure that every prisoner was safe and sound he went straight for the thugs that were still trying to understand what was going on. Kiba and Shino had taken on the majority of those guys but here and there one of them could be seen running around and so Naruto didn't take any chances and finished them off before they could case any more trouble. The camp was highlighted by the fires caused by the explosions and it gave it a dreadful feeling of death and chaos. After disposing of another thug who had tried to disappear into the night Naruto decided that he was going to look for those shinobi that were rumored to be at the camp. He had no doubt that Kakashi-sensei was currently fighting one of them since he would have drawn attention to himself with setting off the explosion.

Before he could move towards his destination his instinct told him to duck. As he did just that he saw several kunai and shuriken pass over his head embedding themselves into the remains of what used to be a small wooden house. He looked up towards were the weapons had been thrown and noticed once of the shinobi he had been searching for standing there waiting for him. The man was wearing a typical shinobi outfit and a Kumo headband with a slash carved into it signaling he was a missing nin.

"Good reflexes you have there." The man said before jumping down from his position. "But it's going to take more than that to get out of here alive."

"I guess that leaves me no choice than to get serious doesn't it?" Naruto said calmly looking at his adversary. The man didn't seem particularly strong or menacing but he knew better than to get overconfident.

"My name is Sora Akira; former Chuunin from Kumo." The man said.

"Namikaze Naruto from Konoha." Naruto said introducing himself before unsheathing his sword slowly.

Naruto didn't want to waste too much time and decided to be the first to attack. He focused some Chakra into his legs so that he would gain some extra speed and shot forward towards his adversary who seemed to be shocked at Naruto's speed. The man barely managed to evade the attack that would have decapitated him if he hadn't ducked at the last moment. The man wasn't helpless however and he retaliated with a kick aimed at Naruto's side. The attack however was blocked easily by Naruto who hit the man in the head with the hilt of his sword before kicking him into the remains of the wooden building behind them.

The shinobi from Kumo couldn't believe what was happening; he was getting trashed by this young man who he had thought being an easy prey. After the pain had subsided a little he managed to crawl out of the rubble and stand up. The kick and the crashing into the building had resulted in a few broken ribs and he had trouble breathing. Nonetheless he wouldn't just let the boy win that easily he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Not bad Namikaze. You're stronger than I suspected but even if you defeat me my fellow shinobi will kill your teammates soon enough." Akira said. "I'm the weakest out of all of them and you're friends have no idea who they are messing with."

"My teammates are more than capable of disposing of a few missing nin." Naruto said confident in his friend's abilities and skills.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that if I were you." Akira laughed before he started doing some handseals. He knew that this would be his last attack if the pain in his chest was any indication. It didn't matter anyway since his partners wouldn't allow him to remain alive. It had been his job to guard the hideout that night and he had failed meaning they would kill him any way. He started concentrating chakra around his hand and yelled out 'Raiton: Raikyuu no Jutsu' and a ball made of lighting formed in his hand; he looked at Naruto and launched the ball towards him. Naruto was fascinated by the attack; it resembled the 'Rasengan' in some way but he knew the attack was much weaker than the 'Rasengan'. The ball of lighting him straight in the chest and Naruto screamed out in pain.

Akira was confused when his attack worked; he thought that Naruto would have more than enough time to evade the attack but apparently he had overestimated the young shinobi. His face had a large smile and if his chest didn't hurt that much he would have let out a yell of victory. But then he looked at Naruto who seemed to just stand there and to his shock Naruto exploded in a puff of smoke. Akira looked around him knowing that he had been tricked by a Kage Bunshin and that the real Naruto was hiding somewhere. Frantically looking around he failed to notice Naruto crouching behind a tree just ten feet away from him.

Naruto did a few handseals and slammed his hands into the ground and said 'Doton: Chijou Yari'. Almost instantly dozens of spears made out of earth and rock shot out of the ground; Akira who was still looking where his opponent had been hiding didn't notice them until it was too late. Several of the spears pierced his body pinning him to the ground. He yelled out in agony before the spears disappeared and he fell to the ground bleeding heavily. Naruto approached him and paid his respects by nodding to the man.

"W-When d-did you m-make that b-bunshin?" Akira managed to say.

"I made it when you were buried in the rubble after my attack." Naruto explained. "You gave me more than enough time to come up with a strategy to beat you."

"N-nicely d-done kid." Akira said before the light disappeared out of his eyes.

Naruto kneeled before the man and took away his possessions like his pouch and holster before taking out a storage scroll. He placed it on the ground and then rolled Akira's body on it. He focused some chakra into the seal and the body vanished only leaving the scroll. Naruto figured that he could use the bounty that this man had just like he had used Zabuza's bounty. Everyone needed money and while missions paid well an extra bit of cash is always welcome. Naruto pocketed the scroll and when in search of his teammates.

* * *

Sasuke was in a bad position; after he and Kakashi had detonated the exploding tags they had separated and engaged in battle. He had disposed of a few thugs along the way but those were hardly worth mentioning. He wanted to fight a strong opponent; he wanted someone that would challenge him and make him break his limits. He didn't really care about the abducted people since he didn't know any of them. That wasn't to say he agreed with how they were treated; he may be a brooding anti-social bastard but he still had a heart. Innocents should never be involved with shinobi business and he despised those who preyed on the weak. That was one of the reasons he wanted to be strong at all costs; the strong prey on the weak just like his brother had done on the night he had slaughtered his family. On that night Sasuke was the prey and he never wanted to feel like that again. He was ashamed that he had been useless and helpless to safe his family and he was even more ashamed of the fact that he had been terrified to the point of crying when his brother stood before him.

From that day on he swore that he would become strong no matter what the prize was. His brother had instructed him to become strong so that they could fight again and Sasuke had promised himself that when that day finally came he would kill his treacherous brother. He would bring back honor to the Uchiha name and once again the Uchiha would be recognized as the strongest Shinobi clan to have ever existed. That had been his motivation to live, to fight and to become the best.

Now however Sasuke was back to being the prey and it infuriated him to no end. After disposing of those thugs he had encountered a Missing Nin and he had eagerly engaged into battle with the man. Sasuke had started his attack with a small Katon jutsu trying to surprise the man but that hadn't worked out like he had planned. The attack never reached the man as he created a giant wall rising from the earth blocking the flames.

When the flames died the wall sank back into the ground and Sasuke could see the man was now looking at him. Sasuke too could now see the man more clearly and he had to admit that the man seemed very strong. The man was easily 6 feet tall and was ripped with muscles; his face had a few scars with a Iwa headband around his neck but his eyes were what shocked Sasuke the most. The man's eyes showed experience, skill, knowledge and more than anything they showed recognition.

"Oh, what do we have here? An Uchiha, last I heard that whole clan was slaughtered except two survivors." The man said intrigued looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke didn't bother to reply and threw several kunai and shuriken at his opponent who just evaded them or repelled them with his own weapons. Sasuke smirked and tried to engage the man with Taijutsu. He threw a punch aimed at the man's throat but his fist was slapped away. He followed his attack with a low kick but the man just jumped right over it. Sasuke was getting annoyed; even with his Sharingan active he couldn't hit the man. He continued to attack but each time the man dodged or blocked his attacks with ease.

"You're not bad little Uchiha but you're not quite there yet I'm afraid." The man said calmly while ducking under a punch.

Sasuke was seething mad by how this was going. Not only was the guy blocking his every attack he was also mocking him and his name. Sasuke continued his attack and tried to hit him with a kick to the man's face but his foot was stopped when the man caught it with his hand. The man just grabbed Sasuke's foot with both hands and turned around before pulling Sasuke over his back and slammed him into the ground hard.

Sasuke hit the ground hard and he felt the air being forced out of his lungs. He struggled to get up and breathed heavily; the hit had done some damage but it was more the surprise of being caught that had done the mental damage. He hadn't seen anything even with his Sharingan activated; normally his Sharingan would allow him to anticipate his opponent's attack and movements. He didn't quite understand what was going on and he didn't like that feeling on bit.

"What's the matter little Uchiha? I hope I didn't scare you too much there." The man said laughing.

"You don't scare me; I'm an Uchiha and nobody can defeat an Uchiha." Sasuke said rising to the man's taunts.

"Nobody can defeat an Uchiha? Oh that's a good one." The man laughed even louder. "Listen kid, I've fought with more than one Uchiha in my lifetime and while they might have been formidable opponents I was the one to walk away."

"Lies; only an Uchiha can defeat an Uchiha. We're the strongest Shinobi clan in the elemental countries." Sasuke said angry.

"Look, I understand that you want to defend your family's honor and all that but that's just pure nonsense." The man shrugged. "No matter how strong you are there's always someone stronger; you should remember that."

"I don't need the advice of the likes of you. I'm here to defeat you and when I do I have become even stronger than before." Sasuke said smirking at the man.

"Very well, I was going to spare your life and only teach you a lesson in humility but it seems that won't work." The man said sighing loudly.

The man seemed to disappear from where he was standing and before Sasuke could look for him he felt a fist impacting in his gut. Sasuke doubled over in pain from the hit but before he could recover he got hit a second time making the pain even worse. For a moment Sasuke thought he was going to throw up his insides but a punch to his jaw hindered that. Sasuke was send flying before crashing into the ground once again. The pain in his stomach and now his jaw was unbelievable and he had trouble staying awake. He felt a hand grab hold of him and then being lift into the air.

"You Uchiha always were a pain in the ass with your arrogance." The man said before releasing Sasuke and punching him again in the face.

Sasuke felt his jaw break from the punch and dropped to ground several feet further from the man. His left eye was swollen shut from the previous hits and he could barely move but he still tried to get up to his feet. When he finally managed to get to one knee he raised his head and glared to the man. He refused to give up; he needed to get stronger so he could defeat his brother. He couldn't die here, he had to live.

The man was surprised at Sasuke's will to stand up but he knew that the fight was over before it could begin. While the kid was strong and without a doubt talented for his age he was nothing compared to himself. He was considered one of the strongest shinobi in his village before he declared himself a Missing Nin all those years ago and now he was even stronger than before. The kid didn't stand a chance to begin with and that's why he was willing to let the boy live had he not been so stubborn and arrogant. Also the memories of his friends and family being killed by the Uchiha during the war were egging him on to dispose of the boy.

"I'm sorry for this kid but this is the end of the line for you." The man said rushing through some handseals before placing them on the ground so he could execute his attack. Before he could however he noticed movement from his left side and he stopped his jutsu. He quickly took out a kunai and raised his hand and blocked a sword with relative ease. To his surprise his attacker dissolved into mud after the attack and he knew he had been tricked. He turned back to the Uchiha he had been about to kill and saw a blonde shinobi standing in front of his former adversary.

Naruto had just arrived in the nick of time and had seen that Sasuke was about to be killed by this man and had intervened by making a Tsuchi Bunshin and had that one attack while he went over to his fellow Konoha shinobi. Naruto knew that the man in front of him was strong if Sasuke's injuries were any indication; he looked at the man and noticed how tall and muscled the man was. Judging from his body the man was strong and agile making it very hard for someone slower than him to be able to get in a hit.

Sasuke had seen his attacker prepare for his final attack and had tried to move out of the way but his body refused to work. He knew he had several broken ribs and probably a broken jaw as well. It would take several days before he would be well enough to move again but in the face of death he tried nonetheless. Incapable of moving he had to watch as the man placed his hands on the ground only to have him raise his hand to block an attack. He froze when not even a second later someone stood in front of him and he slowly he raised his head. What he saw next angered him greatly; in front of him stood no one else than the man he despised almost as much as his brother. Of all people who could have saved him it had to be Namikaze Naruto. There was no way he was going to accept this humiliation.

"Move Namikaze, I don't need your help." Sasuke said trying to get up.

"Really? Because it seems to me that you're getting your ass kicked by this guy." Naruto said to him. 'Damn him and his pride.' Naruto thought as well.

"Shut up dobe. I can handle this." Sasuke said before he fell back on the ground.

The man had been surprised by the Tsuchi Bunshin but didn't have any trouble blocking the attack once he was aware of it. What had intrigued him more was the name of the blonde standing there. If he had heard correctly than things had just gotten much more interesting. He wanted to leave but now he decided to stick around a bit longer.

"You should listen to your friend little Uchiha." The man said to Sasuke. "You're in no condition to fight and even if you managed to get up it wouldn't change a thing."

"Shut up, I told you I don't you advice from anyone." Sasuke yelled out before passing out. It seemed that this last action had cost him his remaining energy. Naruto made a Kage Bunshin and told it to take Sasuke out of the camp to Hinata and Sakura so they could heal him. The clone nodded and picked up Sasuke before throwing him over his shoulder and disappearing into the dark forest that surrounded the camp. The original Naruto then turned to the man that had allowed him to take care of his comrade.

"Thank you for allowing that." Naruto said thankfully.

"No problem, I have no interest in the Uchiha." The man said. "You however I want to know about. The Uchiha called you Namikaze if I'm not mistaken?"

"That's right; my name is Namikaze Naruto of Konoha." Naruto nodded.

"I see; are you by any chance related to Namikaze Minato?" the man asked again?

"That's my father's name." Naruto admitted.

"Well I'll be damned." The man said shocked. "I wasn't aware that Konoha's Yellow Flash had a son."

"It was a secret until a few months ago." Naruto explained to the man. "You seem to have some history with my father."

"Sure did kid. Your father was one of the few men that scared the hell out of my village's shinobi." The man said laughing. "You know, he may have been our enemy but he was without a doubt the man I admired the most during that stupid war."

"You fought my father?" Naruto asked interested.

"I encountered your father several times but only once did I fight him personally." The man admitted. "Our superiors ordered a 'flee on sight' if your father was present at the battle field so most of the time we fled. At the end of the war however we fought."

"It's a shame we're not on the same side otherwise I would have been honored to hear your story about it." Naruto said a bit sad. This man had gone against his father and lived to tell the tale so he knew the man was incredibly strong.

"While that may be true on the other hand I'm curious to see what the son of that man is capable of." The man said and he ran towards Naruto.

Naruto nodded and mirrored the man's movements and ran straight to him as well. Naruto blocked a punch with his left arm and retaliated with a punch of his own but it was blocked as well. Not giving up that easily he lashed out with his leg trying to hit the man in the ribs. It missed however as the man just jumped back a little bit making the attack just miss by a few inches. Naruto however just continued his attack by placing his foot on the ground and attacked with his other leg by performing a round house kick as well. This time however the man ducked under the kick and he pushed forward into Naruto guard and tried to uppercut him in the jaw. Naruto threw his head back and the fist passed but he could feel the little wind formed by the speed of the attack. Before Naruto could counterattack his legs were kicked from underneath him with such force that he was lifted but in the air. For a second he found himself falling horizontally towards the ground but then he got hit by two fists right in his chest area. Naruto was send flying backwards and he had to force himself to twist in the air so he could land on his feet instead of on his backside. When he finally stopped he was couching and breathing deeply from the hits.

"Good, that was impressive." The man acknowledged.

"Thanks but I didn't even hit you once." Naruto said after recovering from the last attack.

"And you probably won't succeed in hitting me today. But tell you what; if you manage to hurt me even once I will tell you who I am and I'll even admit that you're capable of becoming the man your dad once was." The man said serious.

"I don't need your recognition but you're on." Naruto said before making several Kage Bunshin and he attacked once again. He and the clones started out with Taijutsu but it became clear that the man was vastly stronger and faster than Naruto was and his clones were getting decimated one after another. Naruto realized that he wasn't going to win in close ranged combat so he jumped back and started doing some handseals. When he finished his seals he let out a huge stream of fire that went straight for his opponent who just stood there waiting. At the last moment a huge wall of earth blocked the incoming attack.

"Nice try but your friend tried to do the same thing." The man chuckled before he heard something behind him. He heard someone calling out 'Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu' and he smiled at how Naruto had used his Kage Bunshin to get behind him. The attack was fast and strong and would seriously injure or kill a shinobi if he got hit head on but to him this attack was slow and he had no trouble evading it. Naruto was a bit pissed that the man had evaded his attack so easily but couldn't help but feel good about this fight.

"Excellent strategy you had there. You had a Bunshin pretend to be the real one while you sneaked behind me. I like it but." The man laughed admitting he had been had. Naruto wanted to say something in return but before he could do so a fist impacted on the side of his head sending him to the ground. He looked up to see a Tsuchi Bunshin disappearing back into the earth. "You're not the only one who can use clones."

Naruto got up and grinned at the man. He didn't know when he had made that clone but the attack sure had come as a surprise. He thought about what had happened and came to realize that the man was strong both in close range combat as well as in long ranged combat. This was something that took years to accomplish; mostly people were good at either close or long ranged fighting but it took a lot of time and experience to be good at both.

"Alright let's get a little serious here shall we?" the man said suddenly.

Naruto blinked and for a moment he thought the man had just vanished. It was only his instinct that saved him from being hit from behind and he ducked under the kick. His opponent however wasn't finished and before Naruto could turn around to face the man he got rewarded with a devastating punch to the head. He stumbled a bit from the hit right into another attack where his opponent's clasped hands hit him right on the head. By this time Naruto vision was blurry and he had trouble seeing which made him very vulnerable to new attacks. To his surprise the next attack didn't come and he got the time to recover a bit.

Once he got his bearings back Naruto attacked once again; he wouldn't just be a punching bag after all. But no matter how fast he attacked or how many punches or kicks he threw he never managed to hit his opponent. Naruto was starting to get frustrated and it took him a few seconds before he calmed down enough to think clearly again. He was starting to get tired and the hits he had suffered to the head were taking their toll as well. He tried a desperate attack and put all of his power into the next punch. Naruto sighed as his hand was stopped by the man like it was nothing; he jumped back trying to come up with a strategy to get out of this fight. He was way over his head and he knew it. The man in front of him was incredibly strong and it remained Naruto of the spars he had with Ero-sennin a few months back.

"You're too strong for me. I hate to admit it but I don't stand a chance against you." Naruto said breathing deeply disappointed in himself.

"Good, as a shinobi you have to know your limits. There are times when you'll be facing an enemy that you can't defeat." The man nodded. "It takes a great amount of humility to be able to accept the fact that you can't win. That's something the Uchiha didn't have and that makes you the better man."

"Doesn't mean I like it." Naruto said.

"Nobody likes to be confronted with their flaws or things they can't do but a real man takes those things and works hard to get stronger." The Iwa shinobi said. "You've shown that you're willing to admit your shortcomings and even more willing to work on them and that is something I admire."

"I'm not done yet." Naruto said taking his sword and holding it in front of him.

"Then come and show me your resolve." The man nodded. "I'll take your attack head on."

Naruto didn't waste any time and rushed towards his opponent with his sword in his hands. He raised his arms so he could attack from above and just before he reached his opponent he jumped bringing his sword down. The man just stood there and watched as Naruto approached. He was impressed with the boy but such an attack wouldn't harm him. He raised his arm and blocked the sword. Naruto didn't know what happened; the man had blocked his sword with his bare arm and he didn't even get a cut. His sword was capable of cutting through rock but was unable to cut this man's skin? What the hell was going on here?

The man didn't wait until Naruto had recovered from the shock and threw punch after punch hitting Naruto several times before he could do anything. The man's punches came faster and faster and soon Naruto was unable to evade or block them. Punch after punch Naruto got hit and when he was send flying thanks to a powerful hit to his chest he almost lost consciousness. He hit the ground hard and he was hurt badly. He knew he had several broken bones and more than likely he had a concussion as well. This fight had gone wrong very fast. He coughed up some blood and managed to sit up before glaring at his opponent.

"What do you say kid? One last attack before we finish this? The man said calmly.

Naruto didn't answer but focused all his energy into getting up. It took him about a minute before he stood up on shakily legs but he had done it. He picked up his sword and readied it for his final attack. He raised his arms and held his sword to his right above his head. He didn't have the energy to make a Kage Bunshin so this attack would have to do it. He would force everything he had into it.

His opponent too was ready for his last attack although he had more than enough left for several attacks. The boy was strong there was no doubt about it; the fact that he was standing after that last attack told him more than enough. The boy had power and skills but it wasn't enough for him to win. He would honor the boy by using one his favorite Jutsu to finish the fight. But first he would let the Namikaze attack, he was curious to see what the boy had planned.

Naruto was ready and he had put as much chakra as possible into the seal on his sword. He noticed that the man was waiting for him to attack and nodded. As fast as he could he brought down his sword in a diagonal way from above right to below left and yelled out 'Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' once again relying on his favorite Kenjutsu technique. The cutting wind raced towards the man who was looking at the attack with wide eyes before he brought up both arms in front of him to block the attack only to be knocked back several feet. After blocking the attack he lowered his arms and looked at Naruto before looking at his arm. To his surprise a small cut drawing a little blood appeared where the attack had impacted.

"Nicely done kid, you managed to wound me even if it's only this little cut." The man said loudly. "You're worthy of knowing who I am. In my village I am know as 'Stone Ox'. This isn't my real name but most know me by this name. It was a pleasure fighting you Namikaze Naruto and hopefully you'll be much stronger by the time we meet again."

The man now known as Iwa's Stone Ox then went through some handseals before several dozen small rocks lifted from the ground and floated around him. He then raised his hands making the rocks float even higher and then in one fluid motion his arms went down sending the rocks into Naruto's direction. Naruto who was too tired to move and the rocks battered his body until his lost consciousness. The last thing he heard and saw was 'Stone Ox' saying goodbye before darkness claimed him.

* * *

When Naruto opened his eyes he noticed that he was in a familiar room; he recognized the room as a room in Tazuna's house and he wondered how he got here. The last thing he remembered was being hit by dozens of rocks and then darkness. He sat up and tried to get out of bed; his body was still sore from the fight his legs were heavy. With much effort he got dressed and went down the stairs to find his friends and teammates. He passed another room and saw Sasuke lying in bed still unconscious and hurt. For a second he pitied the poor boy because unlike Naruto he didn't have healing powers meaning he would have to heal naturally which took much longer even when he got help from two medic Nins.

He heard several voices in the living room and he opened the door causing the people inside to turn towards the opening door. When Hinata and Sakura saw that it was Naruto they shot up and helped him sit down. They gave him a lecture that he wasn't allowed to be up yet but he told them that he was feeling fine. Hinata knew about his healing power so she didn't push it as hard as Sakura but she still agreed that he should have stayed in bed.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" Kakashi asked. He had been concerned about his sensei's son but most of all he had been afraid of Anko's wrath if something happened to her boyfriend while under his command. Anko would attack first and ask questions later he was sure of that. Now that Naruto was up things wouldn't be that bad.

"I'm fine, just a bit sore and a little headache but otherwise I'm doing okay." Naruto said. "What happened?"

"Kiba and Shino found you after they finished disposing of the thugs. You were hurt pretty badly according to our Medic Nins." Kakashi said.

"Pretty badly?" Sakura snorted. "He had 4 broken ribs, broken arm and fractured hip. Not mention the cuts and wounds all over his body."

"Can you tell us what happened?" Hinata asked.

Naruto then told them what had happened and how he had defeated the first shinobi with ease. He told them about how he found Sasuke in the nick of time so save him from that last attack and how he had fought Iwa's Stone Ox. When Kakashi heard that name he gasped but told Naruto to continue his story. Naruto also told them how he didn't stand a chance against the man and how easily the man defeated him.

"Do you know the man Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba asked him.

"Actually I do know him even if it's only by name." Kakashi nodded. "It was during the third Shinobi war where Konoha was fighting Iwa. I was just promoted to Jounin status and Naruto's dad was my sensei and squad leader at the time. It was a time of death and despair beyond anything I had ever seen. Friends and family were dying left and right; I hope none of you will have to deal with such things."

"Wait a minute, the third War was almost 20 years ago. You were a Jounin at such a young age?" Sakura asked surprised. She knew Kakashi-sensei was strong but this was unbelievable.

"I made Chuunin at age 6 and was promoted to Jounin when I was 12." Kakashi shrugged shocking everyone.

"I thought it was impossible to graduate from the academy at such young age." Shino said surprised as well.

"You have to remember that it was war at that time. Everyone capable of fighting was needed at the front. Of course I didn't always fight at the front lines but sometimes it was needed." Kakashi said.

"So how did you hear of this 'Stone Ox'?" Hinata asked before Kakashi got lost in his memories.

"Oh yeah, well he was one of the strongest Iwa shinobi at the time." Kakashi said. "You see while Konoha had the Yellow Flash, Iwa had the 'Stone Ox'. Both of them were feared by their enemies and to my knowledge they only fought once." He said looking at Naruto who nodded. "Anyway, I don't know what happened during the fight but both of them lived. A few months later I heard that he became a missing nin because they held him responsible for not killing Yondaime."

The rest of the day was spent by hearing the reports of the others and Naruto was glad that each and every hostage they had freed was safe and sound. Some of them would have to spend a few days in the hospital but all of them would recover. Today the authorities would check out the mine where the people had to work and maybe whole of Wave would profit from what they found instead of a few Missing Nin. Kakashi told him that he had to deal with a pair of shinobi who were strong at working together but all together they were no match for him. It took him a while to get rid of them thanks to their extraordinary teamwork. In the end the mission had been completed and once Sasuke and Naruto were healed they would head back to Konoha.

* * *

A few miles from where the Konoha group was resting five figures were hiding in a cave. They had been following the group for a few days now and had been waiting for the right time to strike. Their mission was simple: get Uchiha Sasuke.

"So when do we attack?" one of them asked.

"Relax, Sasuke is no good to us in his current state." One answered. "We wait until there healed and then we approach him."

"He better get healed fucking fast before I fucking lose my patience." A girl's voice said.

"Calm down Tayuya. You know that Orochimaru-sama needs Sasuke to be in perfect condition." The boy said before repositioning his glasses.

"Fuck you Kabuto-prick." Tayuya screamed back at him. "Just because you're Orochimaru-sama's favorite boytoy doesn't mean you can order me around."

Kabuto sighed; the past few days had been though even for someone like him. Each and everyone in his group had short tempers and were easily pissed off and agitated. He just hoped he managed to control them long enough so he could finish this mission. Orochimaru wouldn't be pleased if they failed in capturing Uchiha Sasuke. Then he grinned as he remembered that the Kyuubi brat was with him as well. He had asked Orochimaru if he could deal with the blonde but he had been forbidden to kill the boy. He had protested at first but one glare from his master and he obeyed. However that didn't mean he couldn't teach the blonde a lesson. After all he had to get some payback from their last fight; his smile vanished as he remembered just how long it had taken for him to recover. Now he would have his revenge and he would bring back Uchiha Sasuke.

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter. I hope I did a good job once again. In the next chapter we'll see how Sasuke will react to being saved by Naruto and how the Sound Five + Kabuto will contact Sasuke. It will also mark the beginning of Sasuke's defection and the fights between the two groups. Hope to see you all in two weeks.


	36. Chapter 36: The Offer

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this new chapter of my story. I apologize for posting a bit later than usual but I had a party last night and I had to sleep off my hangover. Let one thing be said about Christmas parties: there's always enough booze lol. Anyway enjoy the chapter and let me know how it was. I'm not entirely satisfied with it since it took longer than I anticipated getting to the point. Nonetheless I think the conversations between the characters were necessary to build up to the following chapters.

Anyway Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 36: The offer

It had been two days since Naruto had woken up after being defeated by Iwa's Stone Ox and Naruto had been doing some soul searching. Being manhandled by the man had shown him that he wasn't as strong as he believed to be. Sure he had fought some amazing opponents and by chance and some skill he had managed to defeat most of them albeit with a lot of trouble. This time however he had been brutally defeated. No matter what he did he was unable to defeat the Stone Ox, he knew that much and for some reason he thought that there would be a next time where he would face the man. If he stayed like this he would never be able to defeat him.

It was a humbling thought and Naruto was a bit disgusted when he realized that he had gotten a bit arrogant over the last few months. That would have to change and he would change right now he swore to himself. On the other hand he couldn't really blame himself for being a bit confident in his skills. He had made some amazing progress ever since he graduated from the academy. When he became a Chuunin he had made the first step towards realizing his dream and he felt invincible at the time.

Naruto wondered around the forest that surrounded Tazuna's house and sat down in a clearing. It was a beautiful place that filled him with a feeling of peace and tranquility. He took out one of his storage scrolls and unsealed a bunch of notes that he always carried with him. The notes were his personal training schedule and any ideas he might come up with. More than once he had thought up something only to forget it later on so now he wrote down anything he thought up no matter how insignificant it might seem at that time. He looked over his schedule with a critical eye and pondered where he could make some changes.

"I've definitely have been focusing too much on Ninjutsu instead of strength and speed training." He mused out loud. He took his pen and started scribbling some new exercises that Gai had proposed to the group during their team training. They didn't do those exercises because they only had that much time so they were to be done individually. He would have to remember to thank Gai-sensei for the help when he got back to Konoha. Too bad Lee was still injured or he would have asked him to be sparring partners but then he realized that he would be leaving Konoha in a few months so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

"Alright now I've got a new training schedule for strength and speed. What's next?" Naruto said thinking deeply. He had been working on his Ninjutsu for a long time and while he had a few ideas in his head his had been focusing on his special jutsu over the past few months. It was as good as ready now he only needed to get used to it. He had even put the Hiraishin on the backburner so he could work on this jutsu.

"Guess I could also concentrate a little more on Fuinjutsu." Naruto said before writing a few things down as well. The advantage was that he could work on this area while he was relaxing at home after he had done all his other training. He had been successful in creating his explosive tags and he did enjoy working on it although he didn't care much about all the mathematics that came with it. He knew that Ero-sennin was considered a Fuinjutsu master so he was sure that the man would teach him a lot about the subject during their training trip. Therefore he thought it couldn't hurt to be ahead of his studies by the time he left Konoha.

Thinking of leaving Konoha made his sad and excited at the same time. He didn't want to leave his home and he definitely didn't want to leave Anko and his friends. Three years was a long time after all and a lot could happen; he wasn't really worried about Anko forgetting about him as they had already pledged themselves to each other but still the thought of not seeing her for such a long period was anything but enjoyable. He would miss the village and his friends he was sure of that but on the other hand he got to travel with one of the strongest shinobi even though the man was pervert. If the man kept his word then Naruto would be much stronger after three years of training with the man. Jiraiya could be a great teacher but he was easily distracted as soon as there was a pretty girl in sight. Naruto hoped this wouldn't affect his training.

Naruto slowly got up and resealed his notes into the storage scroll before putting it away. He would continue working on his schedule later on; for now he wanted to spend some time with his friends. While Naruto and Sasuke were resting and healing from their injuries Team 8 and Sakura had been training and exercising under the watchful eye of Kakashi. Naruto wanted to join but Kakashi refused saying that he didn't want Naruto to get hurt because he wasn't fully healed yet. In truth Kakashi knew that thanks to his healing ability Naruto was as good as cured but he didn't want to take any chances; Anko would go ballistic if she heard that Naruto got hurt while under his supervision. Reaching the backyard of Tazuna's house Naruto saw Sakura and Hinata sitting in the shadow with numerous scrolls laid out around them.

"Hey girls what are you working on?" He asked interested.

"Oh we're just working on some scrolls Tsunade-sama ordered us to read." Sakura said looking up. She was amazed that Naruto was already healed from his injuries. She knew something was up with that but she knew better than to ask about it. Naruto wouldn't tell her anything. She felt a little bad about not being trusted with his secrets but he had told her that one day he would tell everyone so she had resigned herself to waiting until that day came.

"Man, am I glad that I'm not studying to be a medic." Naruto said after reading a small section on one of the scrolls. "This is way too complicated for me."

"There's that and then there the fact that Tsunade-sama is a really strict teacher." Hinata grinned. "She's merciless when it comes to training."

"Ha, I'll bet you she's nothing compared to Anko-chan." Naruto laughed loudly. "I remember our time in the forest all too well. She was brutal let me you."

"I'll be sure to tell her you said that Naruto-kun." Hinata said grinning mischievously.

Naruto immediately started begging Hinata not to tell anything to Anko. If she heard about it he would be facing some serious punishment and no matter how strong he got she would always find a way to kick his behind. Hinata and Sakura found it hilarious that someone like Naruto who had fought with some of the strongest shinobi ever was deadly afraid of his girlfriend. They teased him a bit before Hinata promised she wouldn't tell anything to Anko. The girls then shooed Naruto away saying that they had a lot of reading to do. Thanking his lucky stars Naruto went over to where Kiba and Shino were engaged in a spar and sat down next to Kakashi who was reading in his perverted book just like always.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said greeting his friend and teacher.

"Oh hi there Naruto, how are you doing?" Kakashi said lowering his book. Naruto and Kakashi had established some kind of bond after Kakashi had told him stories about his time on Minato's team. He viewed his sensei's son as a nephew of some sort.

"I'm fine though I'm getting a bit restless by doing nothing." Naruto admitted.

"There are plenty of things you can work on besides the normal training." Kakashi said although he understood what Naruto was feeling.

"Yeah but I'm not in the mood to work on my Fuinjutsu." Naruto said. "It's like my body is eager to start training again; especially after being shown how much I can still improve."

"I must say Naruto that I'm impressed with how you're dealing with all this." Kakashi said calmly. "A lot of people would get discouraged or frustrated."

"Honestly? I'm a bit frustrated myself." Naruto said. "But not with getting my ass handed to me. I'm more frustrated with the fact that I had gotten a little too confident. I'm just glad that this happened now instead of later when I'm facing Akatsuki or something like that."

"That's a good way to see things." Kakashi nodded. He was glad that Naruto understood this unlike himself when he had gotten so arrogant and stubborn when he was younger. It had taken the death of his teammate to show him how wrong he was. The day his teammate died still haunted him.

* * *

Inside Tazuna's house a wounded and hurting Sasuke was just waking up. He had woken up the day before but only for an hour or two before falling back asleep. According to Sakura and Hinata he had a few broken ribs, a painful jaw, a sprained ankle and a concussion. They had healed him but he still needed to take it easy as he broken bones were still very tender. Even sitting up hurt like hell at the moment. He looked around and saw that he was alone in the room and this suited him just fine. He didn't need to be coddled like some baby just because he was hurt.

After a few minutes of trying to get comfortable he started remembering what had happened to put him in this situation. He clearly remembered dealing with those thugs that didn't even represent a challenge and how he encountered that Missing-Nin from Iwa. His face darkened for a second before turning in an expression of pain. Clearly his jaw wasn't as healed as he thought it was. He thought back on how he had fought the man and how nothing he tried seemed to work. He had used everything he got but no matter how hard he tried he was defeated quite easily. It was a serious blow to his ego; he had been training so hard over the past few months and yet some Missing-Nin from Iwa defeated him like he was nothing. Not only that he insulted him and the Uchiha name which was unacceptable for Sasuke.

'I swear you'll pay for mocking me.' Sasuke thought furiously.

But what really pissed him off was the fact that he had been saved by his rival; oh how he disliked the dobe. Before he hated the fact that Naruto was getting stronger much faster than he was but he felt relatively sure that he could catch up if he trained hard enough. So for the past months Sasuke trained like crazy; every free moment was spend mastering new techniques, practicing his Taijutsu and his Sharingan. He was stronger than he ever was and was getting stronger every day but apparently it wasn't enough. Each time he thought that he had caught up to Naruto he got shot down again when he noticed that Naruto was still stronger than him. It was infuriating to say the least.

He also couldn't understand why the rest of the group, Jounin Sensei's included, seemed so impressed with the blonde. Each day during training Naruto spoke with the group, laughing and fooling around and yet he still got stronger every day. Naruto was considered one of them, part of the group while he was seen as just another member, just another young shinobi they had to teach. So what if Naruto was the son of the Yondaime? He was an Uchiha for crying out loud, that should mean for something. Though he had to admit that he didn't really care about being accepted but he was sure that they taught Naruto on the side because of who his father was.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Tazuna's daughter Tsunami yell that lunch was ready. He knew that someone would check up on him to see how he was doing; so much the better because he wanted to know what had happened after he lost consciousness. He rolled his eyes when he heard Kiba challenge Naruto to get inside first and of course Naruto accepted. A few minutes later the group was enjoying lunch and he patiently waited. Half an hour later he heard someone walk up the stairs and the door opened. Sasuke looked impassively when Kakashi's head appeared to look inside the room.

"Ah Sasuke, glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" Kakashi asked his student.

"How do you think I'm feeling?" Sasuke said annoyed already.

"Yes well, are you feeling hungry?" Kakashi said pretending he didn't notice the tone his student was using. "I'll get Sakura or Hinata to bring you some food."

"Hn." Sasuke said but he nodded all the same as he was hungry.

Kakashi went back downstairs and told the rest that Sasuke was awake. Sakura volunteered to bring him some food so she took a plate and filled it with some leftovers. She also told that she would check his injuries once he was finished eating. Once she was gone from the room Naruto asked how Sasuke was doing.

"Well, he seems pretty angry about being injured." Kakashi said before taking out his favorite book.

* * *

Later that afternoon Naruto and the gang went upstairs to visit Sasuke; he didn't like the boy very much but he was an injured comrade so he thought it was only normal to visit him. He also knew Sasuke didn't like him at all but he hoped they would be able to get along. Sakura had told them that his injuries were healing well but it would take several more days before he was well enough to travel. While he would be able to walk around by tomorrow he wouldn't be able to jump trees and run at shinobi speed.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked irritated. It was bad enough that he was confined to this bed but now they all have to come see him too.

"We just wanted to know how you were doing." Kiba said already regretting his decision to come. "No need to get all cranky about it."

"Calm down Kiba-kun, Sasuke is just tired and injured." Hinata whispered to him.

Sasuke just ignored the group for a few seconds and then glared at Naruto who noticed the boy looking at him. Naruto could tell that his presence was angering Sasuke so he stayed quiet. There was no need to aggravate the situation by opening his mouth. Sasuke however kept glaring at him and he even leaked a bit of killing intent. It was weak and you could see that Sasuke was trying to calm himself down.

"So did you come here to gloat about defeating that Missing-Nin?" he sneered at Naruto.

"I didn't defeat him Sasuke. I got my ass handed to me pretty badly." Naruto said honestly. "He was way too strong for us. There was no way that we could have defeated him."

"Looks like the great Namikaze isn't so great after all." Sasuke said trying to provoke Naruto.

"Shut up Sasuke you didn't do much better. You should thank Naruto for saving your life." Kiba said angrily. This was the wrong thing to say as Sasuke's face betrayed how furious he was about that.

"Alright let's go everyone, Sasuke still needs to rest." Hinata said quickly before things got out of hand. The others just nodded and left the room.

"You think you're so great and all but compared to me you're nothing." Sasuke said when Naruto turned to leave. "Don't think I'll forget what you've done to me, dobe."

"And what might that be Sasuke?" Naruto said sighing.

"I didn't ask for your help. I didn't need your help." Sasuke said. "One day I'll get my revenge; count on it."

"I'll be waiting Sasuke though I hope it never happens." Naruto said closing the door. He wasn't surprised at Sasuke's reaction; in fact he had expected worse but he figured that being injured had something to do with that. He wouldn't have been surprised if Sasuke attacked him if had he been able to.

Downstairs the rest of the Genin were discussing what had happened. Kiba was very agitated and restless and no matter what anyone said he wasn't able to calm down. The Uchiha had a way to get under your skin and for someone like Kiba who was very loyal to his friends it was hard not to punch the boy in the face. Shino wasn't surprised at all at how Sasuke acted so he was fine. Hinata and Sakura were sitting in a corner talking. Kakashi entered the room at the same time Naruto and asked what had happened. He shook his head a bit disappointed in his student and promised to talk to him.

"It's okay Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said. "I understand how Sasuke's feeling at the moment."

"Naruto, you can't just accept Sasuke treating you like that." Kiba roared upset. "You saved his life. He should be thanking you instead of insulting you."

"Don't you see Kiba?" Naruto explained. "It's because I saved his life that he's so angry at me. He feels humiliated that he needed someone to save him."

"So?" Kiba asked not really understanding what Naruto wanted to say.

"Naruto is right Kiba." Kakashi said. "Ever since he started at the Academy, Sasuke has been one of the best if not the best in his class while Naruto, although not by his fault was the last in his class. Once he noticed how strong Naruto had become he felt threatened. All of the sudden a rival had appeared and he doesn't know how to deal with that. Not only that, Naruto became a Chuunin when he didn't; his pride had been hurt and now that Naruto saved his life from an enemy that defeated him with ease, well he feels that he has been humiliated and his pride won't stand for it."

"That's why he's so mad at me right now." Naruto nodded at Kakashi's explanation. "And I understand that feeling very well; I'm pretty sure none of us would like to be saved by the one person we see as a rival."

"Still it's no reason to react the way he did." Kakashi said not wanting to condone his student's actions.

"Sasuke has always been proud of his name and skills. That combined with his desire to become stronger so he can defeat his brother and we get firework. He see's everyone that's stronger than him as a threat to his goals. Instead of focusing on his own progress he looks at others and measures himself to them." Naruto explained. "Because of that he doesn't notice his own progress and it feels like he's not getting stronger at all."

The group decided to leave Sasuke alone for the rest of the day since they didn't want thing to get worse. Unfortunately leaving him alone meant also giving him time to brood and stew in his anger. The more Sasuke thought about what happened over the past few months the angrier he got. It was becoming clear that he wasn't getting stronger while staying in the village; no matter the training they gave him he needed more. Those losers might be happy with learning D or C ranked jutsu but he needed more powerful things. He snorted; it wasn't like he was going to defeat his brother with those child jutsu. But he knew his teachers in Konoha were unwilling to teach him stronger jutsu saying that he needed to learn the basics before going over to the advanced material.

No, the longer he thought about it, the more leaving the village seemed like a good idea. Then again he didn't have any where to go and he wasn't foolish enough to believe that Konoha was just going to let him leave. He would need to disappear but that was easier said than done. If he wasn't an Uchiha with one of the best Kekkei Genkai in the village they might have declared him a low level Missing-Nin but since he was an Uchiha they would search high and low for him. The village wouldn't want to lose the powers of the Sharingan he was sure of that. He cursed as he couldn't think of a way to successfully disappear. He looked outside surprised to see that it was already getting dark; apparently he had been thinking for a long time. He closed his eyes for a bit and slowly drifted into a restless slumber.

Tsunami had gone upstairs to bring the young shinobi some dinner but saw that he was sleeping so she gently put the food on the nightstand and left. The boy was hurt and when hurt the best thing to do was rest in her opinion. She would tell the group downstairs to keep quiet so they wouldn't disturb him.

* * *

Earlier that day in Konoha the Jounin group consisting out of Anko, Kurenai, Gai and Asuma were having a meeting. Nothing fancy or shockingly important was going on during the meeting but it was more like friends getting together to discuss how things were going with their students. Gai however was insanely happy for the past few days; reason for this was that Lee had had his last surgery to remove the bone fragments logged near his spine. Tsunade and her medical team had done the impossible in his eyes by succeeding to remove every fragment without any complications. This meant that once Lee had healed and started his rehab he would be able to join the training and continue to be a shinobi. When Tsunade had delivered the news to him and his student they had both cried of joy and thanked Tsunade over and over again. The rest of the students had of course congratulated Lee with his full recovery and spend a lot of time with him.

"So any news from your team?" Asuma asked Kurenai and Anko?

"Kakashi sent a report that they had completed the mission but they were staying a few days to let their injuries heal." Kurenai said while waving the smoke of Asuma's cigarette away from her.

"Injuries? I thought they had to deal with some thugs and thieves." Asuma asked.

"No, there were a few Missing-Nin involved. Most of them were low-level but one was Iwa's Stone Ox." Kurenai answered. At this Asuma's cigarette dropped from his mouth but he was too shocked to notice it. It was only when he felt the cigarette burn through his pants that he jumped up from the sudden pain.

"Iwa's Stone Ox?" Asuma and Gai said surprised. "What the hell does a guy like that do with a few low level Missing-Nins?"

"Beats me but he was there and Sasuke and Naruto fought him." Kurenai shrugged. "Don't worry they're fine; a bit beat up but fine."

"YOSH NARUTO-KUN'S AND SASUKE-KUN'S YOUTH IS BLAZING STRONGLY TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE A FIGHT WITH SUCH AN OPPONENT!" Gai proclaimed loudly making the others cringe at the volume of his voice.

"Goddammit Gai, how many times do we have to tell not to shout?" Anko yelled with a kunai in her hands.

"Sorry." A frightened Gai said quickly.

"Besides they didn't survive; he let them live." Kurenai said picking up the previous topic.

"Lucky kids." Asuma said grinning.

"Lucky my foot." Anko muttered. "This is the second time a mission from Wave gets bumped up from C to an A rank mission. I'm going to have a few words with Tazuna if I ever see him again."

"Relax Anko, he's fine and he'll be back in a few days." Kurenai said comforting her friend.

"Only to leave in a few weeks and then he'll be gone for three years." Anko said a bit sad. She didn't want to be a crybaby about it but it just hit her a few days ago how long he would be gone. A first she was against it but then she realized Naruto needed the training and she had accepted the fact. Now she was unsure how she felt about it; three years is such a long time.

In an attempt to cheer her friend up Kurenai started to talk about other stuff. She felt for her friend but there wasn't much she could do about it except being there for her. A few drinks later Anko's mood had brightened a bit especially when some rookie Chuunin started to hit on her and she got to scare him away. Poor boy would think twice before he approached a woman from now on she was sure of that.

* * *

In Wave someone slowly and carefully made his way to Tazuna's house. The figure was using the shadows and landmarks to hide him and he was sure nobody had seen him. When he reached the backyard of the house he paused for a few minutes to check for traps. Seeing none he made his way over to the house and climbed up the wall to the second floor window. Once he reached to window he looked inside and smiled seeing that his target was there just like he was told by his teammates. Slowly opening the window, careful not to make any sound that might alert the other shinobis he stepped inside. He took out a few seals that his master had given him; the seals were designed to isolate a room when placed on the four walls. When done correctly no sound could leave the room making it perfectly safe to speak instead of whispering. Those kinds of seals were also used in the office of the Hokage for example or other place where secret information was handled. Once the seals were in place he kicked the bed waking the Uchiha up.

"W-what?" Sasuke said groggily. He then saw someone standing in his room and immediately raised his guard; he knew that if someone came to kill him he wouldn't stand a chance with his injuries.

"Hello Sasuke-kun. It has been awhile since we've last seen each other." The unknown person said before stepping into the light.

"Kabuto? What are you doing here? What do you want from me?" Sasuke said surprise to see the traitor. After the Chuunin exams Kabuto had been exposed as a spy for Orochimaru so it wasn't a surprise that he left Konoha.

"Waw, that Missing-Nin sure did a number on you didn't he?" Kabuto joked.

"Shut up; what do you want?" Sasuke hissed angry.

"Straight to the point I see. Well, I can live with that; the reason I'm here is to give you a proposition." Kabuto said.

"What kind of proposition?" Sasuke interrupted.

"If you would listen than you would know." Kabuto sighed loudly. He hated being interrupted by someone. It was such a rude thing to do. "I know your dream Sasuke. You want to defeat Itachi but to do that you need power."

"Let me guess; you can give me that power?" Sasuke snorted.

"No I can't but Orochimaru-sama can." Kabuto said knowing he would have the Uchiha's attention now.

"The Sannin who attacked Konoha?" Sasuke said while putting his hand on his shoulder where the cursed seal was. "Why would he give me power?"

"Orochimaru-sama knows talent when he sees it. He also said that he sees a lot of himself in you." Kabuto said smirking. "He too was a genius who was held back by his village and his teacher. That's why he left Konoha so he could become stronger and learn more and more powerful jutsu. Orochimaru-sama is the strongest of the Sannin and he knows thousands of techniques that nobody else knows about; not even your brother."

"And what does he wants in return?" Sasuke asked knowing there had to more to this deal than Kabuto mentioned.

"All he wants in return is your loyalty." Kabuto smiled.

"And for me to leave my village." Sasuke argued back.

"A small price to pay for getting enough power to defeat your brother." Kabuto shrugged. "Think of it this way, if you get strong enough to defeat your brother then you're more than strong enough to humiliate Naruto-kun just like he did to you."

"How do you know about that?" Sasuke hissed loudly.

"Orochimaru-sama has been interested in you for quite a while now. We've been following you for days waiting for the right time to talk to you." Kabuto explained. "If you're willing to join us we'll be waiting for you in a large cave just south of here. Come and find us when you're healed and then we'll take you to Orochimaru-sama."

"They won't just let me go; they will try to stop me you know that right?" Sasuke said.

"Don't worry about that; we're more than strong enough to deal with a few genin." Kabuto laughed. "I hope to see you in a few days Sasuke-kun."

* * *

It took Sasuke two more days before he was declared healthy and in full capacities. Over the past two days he had been considering Orochimaru's offer and he was seriously thinking about accepting. He wasn't stupid however; he knew there were things that he didn't know about. People like Orochimaru never did anything without expecting something in return but that was alright. He would use the Sannin's power and knowledge to get stronger and once he had everything he wanted he would deal with the man himself. It might take a while but he was confident that he would become strong enough to succeed. The only thing he had to do now was leave during the night before they left Wave.

Kakashi had ordered them to pack as soon as Hinata and Sakura declared Sasuke to be fully healed. He knew the kids were eager to return home and they had imposed on Tazuna's family for way to long. The trip back to Konoha would take several hours if they travelled at high speed with taking a break every few hours. For that reason he decided to leave the next morning so everyone was well rested. He too was eager to get back to Konoha; he had almost finished his book and he knew Jiraiya-sama's new book would be out soon.

"Alright troops gather around. Now that we're healed and rested we leave tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. So better get some rest because we'll travel fast on the way back to Konoha." Kakashi said earning a few groans from Sakura.

Later that night around 2am Sasuke gathered his things and crept out the house by crawling out his window. Luckilly for him his room was at the back of the house so he was pretty sure no one could hear or see him leaving. He disappeared into the forest never looking back. He remembered Kabuto's words and headed out to where he would be waiting.

The Oto-Nins were waiting for Sasuke inside a cave; it had been a long couple of days for all of them. Kabuto was almost ready to kill the Tayuya girl since she did nothing but question his sexuality and kept insulting him. Then of course was her constant swearing and cursing that really irritated him. Another of his team called Jiroubou constantly complained about being hungry which then made Tayuya insult him starting a verbal fight. His other companions Kidoumaru and the twins Sakon and Ukon were just as irritated as he was but they were already used to it. The only one of the Sound Four he could stand was Kimimaro but sadly his disease had claimed his live a few weeks ago. Kabuto remembered that day very well because Orochimaru had been furious at losing one of his strongest shinobi. That's why he ordered Kabuto on this mission to insure that nothing went wrong. Suddenly Kidoumaru silenced them all by alerting them that someone had tripped one of his traps. The trap wasn't designed to kill but rather to inform that someone was closing in on them. Five minutes later a figure entered the cave.

"Welcome Sasuke; I'm glad to see you accepted our offer." Kabuto said motioning him to come closer.

"Whatever; now give me that power you told me about." Sasuke said.

"This is the one Orochimaru wants?" Tayuya snorted. "Look at him; he's pathetic. I could kick his ass in seconds."

"Tayuya, please refrain from insulting Sasuke-kun." Kabuto said to her. His look told her to shut up or deal with the consequences. "Right Sasuke-kun why don't you sit down and we'll explain what is going to happen." Sasuke took off his backpack and looked at the shinobi around him. "Like I said we can make you stronger but there's a risk. You see Orochimaru-sama gifted you with a seal; a seal that give incredible power."

"You're talking about the seal that appeared when he bit me during the Chuunin exams." Sasuke nodded. "But that's been sealed off by Kakashi."

"Please have a little more confidence in Orochimaru-sama's work." Kabuto said smiling. "The only reason that restriction seal is still working is because the seal you have is incomplete. Your seal is only at level 1."

Sasuke was surprised when he heard that; he remembered the feeling he got when his seal first activated during his time in the Forest of Death. He had never felt anything like it, the power he felt was amazing and that was an incomplete seal? How strong would he get if the seal was completed? All doubt he had about leaving Konoha left his head when he realized that once more they had hindered his progress by putting a restriction seal on him.

"How do I get a complete seal?" Sasuke demanded to know.

"There's a way but it's not without risk like I said." Kabuto nodded. "There's a level 2 cursed seal but to acquire that level you must allow your body to adjust itself to it. The seal itself is not without danger I you didn't know that already. The four you see here all have cursed seals just like you do so they can tell you more about it later on. Now let us proceed." Kabuto said taking out a small glass container with a few pills in it. "This pill is called 'Seishingan' and it forcefully increases the seal to level 2. "

"So all I have to do is take a little pill?" Sasuke snorted.

"No, if you would just take the pill you would die in a matter of minutes." Kabuto laughed at Sasuke's ignorance. "But don't worry that's why these guys are here. They will put you inside this pail "Kabuto showed the wooden barrel. "and put a barrier around you that will put you into a temporary coma until your body is used to the seals full power."

"And you're sure that their skills will be enough to keep me alive." Sasuke asked a bit worried.

"Listen prick, we were the ones who protected Orochimaru by erecting that barrier during the attack. Our skill with seals and barriers are impeccable." Tayuya hissed at him. She instantly disliked the Uchiha but who was she to argue.

Sasuke ignored her but turned back to Kabuto who nodded showing he had full confidence in their skills. Thinking about how this power would allow him to become stronger and possible kill his brother the Uchiha swallowed the pill. In a matter of seconds his body screamed out in pain and he collapsed. The Sound Four didn't waste any time and shoved Sasuke into the barrel and started doing handseals. Time was of the essence and once the handseals were finished a large black mist appeared in the cave just above the barrel. With a shout of "Shikokumujin' the black mist was directed into the barrel sealing Sasuke inside. Sakon then took out some paper tags and drew some seals on it before throwing them at the barrel and said 'Houin Fuukoku' which protected the barrel from opening up before Sasuke was awake.

"Good job. Now we wait for dawn and then we'll set out for Oto." Kabuto said.

"Why wait? Let's move out now." Sakon asked.

"I don't think it's a good idea to travel in the dark with our precious cargo." Kabuto said. "We don't want to take any risks and end up hurting Sasuke."

"Fine." Sakon said letting the matter drop though personally he thought it would be better for them to leave right away.

'How will you handle this Naruto-kun? Will you chase after us or will you abandon your fellow shinobi?' Kabuto thought; he hoped to encounter the blonde if he chose to chase after them. He could hardly wait to get some payback on the boy.

* * *

Thank you for reading and let me know how I did. I was hoping I could start the fighting in this chapter but that would have made the chapter way too long. Next chapter we'll see how Naruto and the gang discover Sasuke's defection and they'll meet up with the Oto-Nins. The next chapter will be filled with action and fights I can guarantee that. So see you all in two weeks time for the next chapter.


	37. Chapter 37: Sasuke's defection

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this new chapter of my story.

First of all I would like to wish everyone a happy Christmas (or any other holiday people celebrate) and I hope you all had a great time celebrating. Also I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year next week. Another year gone, I can't believe how fast time goes sometime. Anyway I wish everyone a good year filled with happiness and good luck.

About this chapter; I'm not completely satisfied with it. I had a really hard time writing this one. I don't know what happened but for some reason the chapter seemed good in my head but when I wrote it down it just didn't do. Personally I would prefer to rewrite it completely but after the third time of completely changing it I went with this version. So if it isn't up to par with the usual chapters please forgive me.

Anyway let me know how you feel about it. Enjoy.

**AN1:**

**ATTENTION EVERYONE:**

**Today (01/01/09) I found a story called Naruto: The Uzumaki Chronicles by Dark Spidey (.net/s/4756137/1/Naruto_The_Uzumaki_Chronicles).**

**While reading this story I immediately noticed that this author had just about copied everything that I had writen in my first two chapters. He adds some of his own ideas as well but the bulk of the chapters are just copies of my story. I find this very insulting that someone just copies another person's work without any respect to the original writer. I have informed this to the administrators and Dark Spidey himself.**

**I hope this issue can be resolved quickly and that Dark Spidey will either change the contents of his chapters or delete the story and start over. I'm not doing this to be mean but I feel that as a writer he should have had the respect and common sense not to copy someone's work like that. I'm sure that any other writers out there agree with me on this point.**

**AN2:**

**After several PM's with Dark Spidey we have come to an understanding. He has agreed to rewrite his chapters so that they wouldn't use an exact copy of mine. If he follow through with his promise I will of course delete previous AN. **

**I don't want there to be any misunderstanding about this problem. I don't have any problem with people using the same ideas I have. On the contrary I would like to see what they do with those ideas and maybe they'll inspire me as well. My problem was that he copied WORD FOR WORD parts of my story while adding some of his own ideas. That is not what writing is about. To me writing is putting my own ideas on paper and write my own story even if I use a concept that's already been used. I'm aware that some of my ideas are already done but I do not just copy other people's story word for word.**

**AN3:**

**I have also no problem with people who use my own personal created Jutsu if they give me credit for it. I don't care if it's just a small request by PM or mentioning it in a AN in the chapter itself. I try to do the same thing as well. So far I haven't really used anyone else's techniques although some might already been done or resemble them. I'm talking about the exact same technique (how it works, the name, etc..) if you use those exact same technique then I would like to be mentioned as the orginal creator. To make it clear what my orginal Jusu are, I have listed them below.**

**1. ****Katon: Ryusei No Jutsu**

**2. ****Suiton: Dekishi Dama No Jutsu**

**3. ****Katon: Kaen Mushi No Jutsu**

**4. ****Katon: Kaen Ya No Jutsu**

**5. ****Doton: Chijou No Jutsu**

**6. ****Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Tengoku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu**

**7. ****Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu**

**8. ****Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Kaze Dangan No Jutsu**

**9. ****Hiden Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Gingaku Saidan Kaze No Jutsu**

**10. ****Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu**

** I have several more but they haven't been used yet in the story so I can't list them here. Once they have been posted in the story I'll will add them as well. **

* * *

Chapter 37: Sasuke's defection

The next morning before dawn Kakashi was preparing for the trip back to Konoha; frankly he was glad to leave Wave. Not because he didn't like it here or disliked the people but because he could feel that something bad was about to happen. The tension in the air was noticeable to any trained shinobi; he also felt the tension between the teams. Sasuke's continuous taunting of the others and his arrogant behavior were causing some serious problems. He wished he could say that the rest of the Genin did their share of causing the problems but that would be a lie. He had noticed how much the rest were trying to avoid the Uchiha just to reduce the tension.

He was seriously disappointed in his pupil; he had talked to him once again but just like every time before Sasuke ignored his advice. Kakashi wondered how Sasuke had gotten this arrogant but he knew the answer anyway. Coming from a major clan that was renowned to be one of the best would make anyone feel a little arrogance but because of him being the only one left the village was willing to jump to his every whim. Kakashi shook his head and vowed to try again later on.

"Good morning Kakashi-sensei." Hinata said entering the living room.

"Good morning Hinata; are the others up yet?" Kakashi asked looking up from his book.

"Sakura-chan is almost ready and I heard Naruto talking to Shino." Hinata said before sitting down at the breakfast table. "I bet they're trying to get Kiba get up."

"Alright; we'll leave as soon as everyone is ready." Kakashi nodded.

Upstairs Naruto and Shino were trying to wake up Kiba. So far they didn't have any luck and Naruto was getting annoyed at his teammate so he did the only thing he could think of. He raced to the bathroom and filled a bucket with ice cold water. He winked at Shino who smirked and backed up a little so he wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Naruto emptied the bucket on Kiba who immediately jumped up from the bed cursing and yelling at Naruto.

"Guess Kiba-kun is up as well." Hinata laughed. She had a good idea what had made Kiba that angry.

"A bucket of ice cold water will do that to you." Naruto laughed when he came down the stairs.

"Oi Naruto, could you go check Sasuke and see if he's awake yet?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

"Sure thing Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said before bounding up the stairs again.

Naruto knocked on the door of Sasuke's bedroom asking him if he was already up. When he got no answer he silently opened the door and peeked inside but saw nobody so he entered the room. He frowned when he saw that all of Sasuke's equipment was gone and the window was opened. Taking a closer look he saw that the bed was made and no sign of Sasuke could be found in the room. It was like the boy had never stayed there. He quickly went downstairs to inform Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke's room is empty and cleared out of anything that might indicate his stay there." Naruto said. "His equipment is gone and the window was open."

"Hinata, I want you to take Sakura and check out the surroundings. Look for a path or trace of anyone leaving." Kakashi immediately ordered. "Naruto, you and I will check the room again while Kiba and Shino try to find a trace of Sasuke by scent." Kakashi said urgently.

"Hai." Was the only answer that all Genin gave.

Kakashi and Naruto examined the room and come to the conclusion that no struggle or fight had taken place inside the room. This could mean two things; either Sasuke was drugged and unconscious or he left freely. Both of them hoped that it was the former because if Sasuke left freely it would mark him as a Missing-nin. Kakashi peered outside the window but couldn't find anything that resembled a path. Taking Naruto he went downstairs hoping that the rest had found something.

"Alright report." Kakashi said.

"Sakura and I found a path just outside the property that leads south of here." Hinata said. "It looks new perhaps a few hours."

"Great job you two." Kakashi said before turning to Kiba and Shino.

"We found a trace of a second smell in Sasuke's room that's familiar but it's weak." Kiba said. "We can't be 100 percent sure but we think its Kabuto."

This alarmed all of them but especially Kakashi and Naruto as they understood what this meant. If Kabuto was involved than it meant that Orochimaru was the one behind all this. Kakashi bit his thumb and summoned Pakkun and told the summon to hurry to Konoha and tell them of the situation. The dog summon nodded and disappeared in no time.

"Pakkun should reach Konoha within the next few hours." Kakashi said. "Meanwhile we'll follow the trail and see what we can find. Everyone quickly eat your breakfast and prepare for battle."

The Genin didn't need to be told twice and started eating; they would need the energy if they encountered any enemy shinobi. Once they finished eating they quickly prepared their weapons and pouches so they had everything at hand. All of this took at most ten minutes and after informing Tsunami and Tazuna of the situation they left following the trail.

* * *

Inside the cave the Oto-nin were also getting ready to depart for their destination. Unfortunately for them they had to travel back toward Hi no Kuni before they could travel to Orochimaru's hideout. They could take another route but that would be the long way around and they all knew Orochimaru wanted them to arrive as soon as possible. None of them wanted to receive his wrath if they made him wait too long.

Kabuto was feeling a bit disappointed that the Konoha shinobi hadn't to notice Sasuke's disappearance yet but he figured it was only a matter of time. He couldn't stall his group any longer as even he wasn't free of being punished by the Snake Sannin. The Sound Four were a pain in the ass but they always got the job done in time and if they told Orochimaru-sama that he was the one responsible for delaying them he would pay the price.

"Alright, let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover and unfortunately we can't just hop through the trees as that would possibly injure Sasuke-kun." Kabuto ordered the Sound Four.

"Yeah whatever dickhead." Tayuya snapped.

"A girl shouldn't use that kind of language." Jiroubou said.

"Shut up Fatso." Tayuya yelled back.

Kabuto sighed and once more wished he hadn't been assigned to this mission. The constant yelling and insulting of each other seriously got to him and he wondered how the four of them worked so well when all they did was insult each other. Glad that this mission was almost over he ordered them to shut up and he motioned them to follow him. While they couldn't hop trees in fear of injuring Sasuke who was still inside the pail they still could run at high speeds.

Kakashi and his team had followed the trail for a few hours now and Hinata had finally been able to find the hiding spot thanks to her Byakugan. She notified the rest and they slowly made their way over there in case there might be some traps. When they entered the cave they quickly inspected it and Kiba told him that he definitely smelled Kabuto and Sasuke. He also found four other scents making the total of five Nin plus Sasuke.

"No sign of struggle or a fight." Naruto said.

"At this point it's safe to say that Sasuke left of his own free will." Kakashi said. "We'll chase them and bring them in for questioning. Whatever happens try to bring Sasuke back alive so he can get a trial and be punished for his betrayal."

"Kakashi-sensei, why would Sasuke-kun leave Konoha?" Sakura asked softly.

"There might be several reasons but since Kabuto and Orochimaru are involved I think it's safe to say that they promised him power." Kakashi said sadly. "Sasuke was very jealous of Naruto, Hinata and you being trained by Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama. If Orochimaru promised him the means to kill his brother Sasuke wouldn't have hesitated."

"I can't believe that idiot." Naruto said loudly. "Doesn't he know what Orochimaru is really after? All he wants is the Sharingan."

"While that is true Naruto, we have to remember that Sasuke has been through a severe mental trauma only a few months ago." Kakashi said."That being said, it doesn't mean he can just betray Konoha without consequences."

"What would those consequences be Kakashi-sensei?" Kiba asked interested.

"It would depend on the investigation and his evaluation." Kakashi sighed. "The best would be temporarily suspended and house arrest while the worst would be execution. But let's not dwell on this now; we need to catch up on those shinobi before they get away." They nodded and took formation before jumping through the trees at high speeds.

* * *

In Konoha Tsunade and her council were discussing some village matters and how things were going with the villagers. So far she had been very satisfied with Hideki and the work he had done. He was very good at dealing with the villagers and they had accepted him as their relay to the Hokage. Minor issues were easily dealt with and if there was a big enough problem Hideki brought it up with her. She had to admit that the system that Naruto had thought of was very efficient even though they had to make some adjustments here and there. They were about to finish the meeting when Pakkun arrived.

"Hokage-sama, there's a situation with Team 7 and 8." Pakkun said hurriedly.

"Proceed." Tsunade said fearing the worst.

"Uchiha Sasuke has left during the night and might have been either abducted or left on his own. There were no signs of a struggle and Inuzuka Kiba caught the scent of Yakushi Kabuto." Pakkun reported. "Kakashi and his team are in pursuit and request possible backup."

"Goddammit that stupid Uchiha." Tsunade cursed. "This is Orochimaru's work no doubt about it."

"I fear you're correct Tsunade." Sandaime sighed. "How will we proceed?" Tsunade pressed a button that called the Anbu that was positioned outside her office.

"Get me a medical team with Mitarashi Anko and Yuuhi Kurenai." She ordered and the Anbu left immediately.

"Why the medical team?" Hideki asked.

"I have a feeling that they'll be needed." Tsunade sighed. "Even though Hinata and Sakura are talented they are only beginning to learn Medical Jutsu. If any of them is seriously injured they might not be able to help."

It didn't take more than ten minutes before Anko and Kurenai arrived at the tower and were informed of what had happened. Anko was furious that the Uchiha had left and endangered Naruto like that and it took Kurenai almost five minutes to calm her down.

"Don't you get it?" Anko said. "Orochimaru somehow managed to convince the Uchiha that leaving Konoha was in his best interests and I only see one way to do that."

"Meaning?" Tsunade said interested in Anko's opinion.

"He promised him power; enough power to defeat Naruto and Itachi." Anko answered.

"That could be true." Sandaime said. "Sasuke has always been focused on his revenge and I've heard more than once that he was obsessed by getting stronger."

"Being privately taught by a Sannin would blind Sasuke enough to leave Konoha." Kurenai agreed.

"Alright; the two of you are to lead a Medical team and help capture any shinobi involved in the defection of Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade ordered. "You are also to apprehend Uchiha Sasuke and bring him back to Konoha so he can be questioned. You leave immediately."

"Hai." Anko and Kurenai said before leaving the office. The told the three Med-nin to meet them at the front gate in ten minutes.

* * *

Kabuto was getting aggravated; things were going much slower than he had expected. They were now a few hours away from Konoha and still had more than halfway to go. They were now running though the thick forest that separated Hi no Kuni from the other countries. They had been traveling for several hours and so far they hadn't encountered any shinobi for which he was grateful. Any delay at this point would be disastrous to them. Seeing as the sun was already pretty high in the sky they decided to take a small break and get some rest and eat something. Running out of energy would be very bad as well.

Kakashi and his team were closing in on the Oto-nin according to his and Kiba's nose. Kakashi was a shinobi with extraordinary skills but he let Kiba take the lead since the boy could use the experience. If Kiba made a mistake Kakashi would correct him but so far he had been doing great. Hinata was using her Byakugan to search the area for traps and to spot the enemy. Shino and Naruto were assigned to be their primary attack force while Sakura would be back up in case of an attack.

"I see them." Hinata said making everyone stop in their tracks.

"What do you see Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked quickly.

"They're resting and eating about a mile from here." Hinata said. "There's no sign of Sasuke but there's a big pail with seals that they're guarding. Kabuto is there as well."

"A pail? Is Sasuke inside it?" Kakashi asked.

"I can't see through it." Hinata said sadly.

"Alright let's get closer and we'll try to surprise them." Kakashi ordered.

Slowly they made their way close to the Oto-nin; they had to evade several ingenious traps but none of them had been triggered as far as they knew. When they got close enough Kakashi explained the plan. Naruto was to make several clones and use the 'Henge' to disguise them as the rest of team. While the Kage Bunshins were occupying them the real ones would try to steal the pail away. Naruto nodded and started on his part of the plan. Before they could execute the plan however they had to jump away from their hiding place as dozens of kunai rained down on them.

"Well, what do we have here?" Kabuto said smirking. "Hatake Kakashi, Namikaze Naruto and a few Genin."

"Where's Sasuke?" Kakashi said inwardly cursing that they had been spotted. "Why did you abduct him?"

"Abduct him? Oh we did no such thing." Kabuto said smiling. "Sasuke came to us of his own free will. As to his current location that would be inside that pail."

"Kabuto, don't you think it's kind of dangerous to give them that information?" Kidoumaru asked.

"Come on Kidoumaru; they're just a bunch of pussies." Tayuya said. "Look at them; they're all Genin."

"You would do well not to underestimate Konoha shinobi." Naruto said warning them. "We'll do anything to rescue our comrade."

"You don't get it do you?" Kabuto laughed loudly. "Sasuke betrayed Konoha for power. He's no longer a comrade of yours."

"That doesn't matter." Kiba said. "He's still a shinobi from Konoha and we won't let you have him."

"Then by all means come and take him." Kabuto said getting ready.

"I'll deal with Kabuto." Kakashi said. "You guys take care of those Oto-nins and get Sasuke back."

Kabuto shot forward with a kunai trying to stab Kakashi in the chest but Kakashi had already taken out his own kunai and blocked it. The Sound Four took advantage from the surprised group and grabbed the pail and disappeared into the trees. Naruto cursed and followed them quickly with Kiba and the rest right on his tail. For several minutes they chased the Sound Four and managed to close in on them pretty quickly.

"Shit they're gaining on us." Tayuya cursed.

"I'll hold them down; you guys keep going."Jiroubou said stopping on a tree. "Get Sasuke-sama to Orochimaru-sama."

The rest of the Sound Four nodded at their teammate and continued running at high speed. Jiroubou prepared to stop most the Konoha shinobi and started doing some handseals. When he noticed the group arrived he slammed his hand into the ground and a huge wall appeared in front of them stopping them in their tracks.

"This is as far as you go." Jiroubou said menacing.

"We don't have time to deal with you so excuse us if we don't stick around." Naruto said putting his hand on his sword ready to attack.

"Wait Naruto-kun, Sakura and I'll deal with this guy." Hinata said stepping forward. "You guys go get Sasuke."

"Alright Hinata-chan but be careful. These guys are strong." Naruto said before nodding to Shino and Kiba. They jumped away from Jiroubou who tried to block them in their path but he had to evade a Jyuken punch courtesy of Hinata.

Hinata bought enough time for the rest of the team to get past Jiroubou who easily blocked or evaded her attacks. Hinata was impressed that Jiroubou who was big and large was able to evade her attacks so easily. She knew that this opponent would be the strongest she had ever faced so far but she wasn't alone in this fight either. Sakura who had stayed behind was anticipating Jiroubou's movements and when he evaded Hinata's last attack she nailed him straight in the gut with one of her punches. Jiroubou doubled over and crashed into a tree.

"Good job Sakura-chan, guess that special training with Tsunade-sama really paid off?" Hinata said praising her friend.

"I'm still far from mastering Tsunade-sama's strength but it will have to do for now." Sakura said beaming.

With a scream of frustration Jiroubou jumped out of the rubble and engaged the two girls. They didn't falter and jumped straight into the fight both using their techniques and skills to deal with this opponent. They both knew that Jiroubou was stronger in terms of strength but they had teamwork and were quicker and more agile than he was. While the girls were having the fight of their lives the remaining three were still chasing the Oto-Nins.

* * *

"Do you think the girls will be alright?" Kiba asked worried.

"They'll be fine." Naruto reassured him. "They have made some extraordinary progress over the past few months."

Naruto was also worried about them but he had to believe in them. He was sure they could defeat their opponent if they fought together. He focused his thoughts on the Oto-Nins that were still running with Sasuke trying to get to the border. They had to catch them no matter what before they reached the end of Hi no Kuni otherwise they would have to halt their pursuit. Speeding up a little they continued the chase.

Tayuya, Sakon/Ukon and Kidoumaru were cursing as they felt their pursuers getting closer; apparently Jiroubou hadn't managed to stop the entire group. If they didn't act soon than they would have to face all three of the Konoha shinobi while guarding Sasuke which would hinder them. They had to distract them until Sasuke woke up and that would only be in about a half hour. Kidoumaru nodded to his teammates and told them to move on without him.

"I'll delay them a bit more." Kidoumaru said before turning back a bit.

Naruto, Kiba and Shino jumped from tree to tree and so far they hadn't encountered any traps so they just raced on. They jumped through the foliage of a tree only to get caught on a giant spider web that prevented them from moving. Above them Kidoumaru looked in glee that he had managed to catch them all.

"Welcome to my web." He said loudly.

"Dammit; what is this web made of?" Kiba swore loudly trying to cut it with his kunai.

"Don't bother trying to cut my threats." Kidoumaru said. "They're infused with Chakra making them stronger than metal. Now, while I would like to spend some time playing with you I'm afraid that's impossible so I'll just finish you off all three at the same time." He then opened his mouth and a sticky substance came out of it. He grabbed it with his six hands and molded it into the form of a kunai. He threw the six kunai at the same time and the three Konoha shinobi got hit by two each. His smile disappeared however when the three of them popped out of existence making him look around frantically.

Suddenly he saw a shadow appear above him and startled he looked up only to feel a kick connect to his head sending him falling down. Before he could reach the ground however a figure jumped up to meet him in mid air and punched him in the jaw sending him up again. Kidoumaru winced in pain before his eyes went wide when he heard someone shout 'Gatsuuga' and he felt something like a huge drill hit him in the back sending them both crashing into the hard ground.

"Nice one Kiba." Naruto said when the three of them landed.

"Thanks." Kiba said. "He won't bother us again." Naruto was about to response when Shino pushed him out of the way. Several kunai shaped knives embedded themselves into the tree behind him.

"Nice attack but it didn't work." Kidoumaru said while wiping a trail of blood that came from his mouth. "Now it's my turn."

"Naruto, Kiba you two head on." Shino said. "I'll take care of this."

"Are you sure?" Kiba asked but Naruto had already nodded and bounded away and he quickly followed.

"That's very brave of you; you're willing to sacrifice yourself for your teammates." Kidoumaru said not even bothered that Naruto and Kiba had left.

"According to my logic I'm the best placed to defeat you." Shino said calmly.

Kidoumaru didn't say anything and decided to attack. He made some throwing weapons and aimed for Shino who got ready by taking out a kunai. Shino evaded the first three weapons and blocked the last three with his kunai before throwing at his opponent. Kidoumaru didn't even bother blocking it and he just tilted his head to the side easily evading it. Shino's attack wasn't done yet and he quickly went through some handseals before using the 'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu' making Kidoumaru jump out of the way.

Shino saw him jump away from the fireball just like had planned and leaped towards him hitting him in the chest with his elbow. Kidoumaru felt the blow and winced but used his multiple hands to grab his adversary and flung him into a bush. Shino who was surprised that Kidoumaru had such good use of his four extra arms started making a plan to deal with his opponent.

* * *

Meanwhile Kakashi was facing Kabuto who was one of the stronger opponents he had faced over the past few years. He was surprised that Kabuto had managed to stay undercover for such a long time in Konoha. The man obviously had skills and to stay a Genin for so long must have been very frustrating for him. Being undercover was something that not everyone could do and certainly not for such an extensive period of time. Most of them slipped up and made a mistake that blew their cover either by accident or because they got careless. Kabuto however had done neither and this said a lot about his skills.

"I've always wondered who of us was stronger." Kabuto said.

"Did you say something?" Kakashi deadpanned casually

"That might work on people like Gai but not with me Kakashi." Kabuto laughed and he attacked once more.

Kakashi was a veteran shinobi who had fought during the war with Iwa and had face Kyuubi itself so he was no stranger to combat. He knew what kind of fighter Kabuto was; he was a Medic-Nin so he would mostly focus on using the Chakra-scalpel trying to cut muscles and tendons. This was a problem but thanks to his Sharingan he could quite easily evade the blows. Unfortunately, using the Sharingan drained his reserves way too fast and he knew that Kabuto would use that advantage. So for the time being he tried to fight with resorting to that option.

He slapped Kabuto's hand away before throwing out a punch himself trying to nail Kabuto in the gut but he missed. Not giving up that easily he did a roundhouse kick that connect with Kabuto's upper arm momentarily paralyzing it from the blow. Kabuto jumped back and rubbed his arm for a few seconds before he quickly ducked under two kunai thrown by Kakashi. While ducking Kabuto used several shuriken that Kakashi dodged by jumping over them.

"Not bad but you should really hurry up and try to defeat me." Kabuto smirked. "The Sound Four are strong and they won't give up Sasuke without a fight."

"As a former Konoha shinobi you should know just how strong we get when we fight for those we think are precious." Kakashi answered while holding his kunai in front of him.

"Ah but that's where the problems start isn't it?" Kabuto said smiling. "Tell me, how many of those Genin actually consider Sasuke as a friend or a precious person?"

"Sasuke is one of us; it doesn't matter if he's a jerk and arrogant." Kakashi said calmly. "He's still a Konoha shinobi. That's enough for us."

"Do you truly believe that crap?" Kabuto sneered.

"That's the difference between a traitor and a true Konoha Shinobi." Kakashi said. "Someone like you wouldn't be able to understand."

Kakashi wasted no time explaining something Kabuto would never understand and attacked once more with a kunai in hand. Kabuto quickly took one of his own kunai and parried it making sparks when the two weapons made contact. They jumped and ran all over the place trying filling the place with the sound of metal crashing into metal and fiery sparks appearing everywhere. If the fight had been at night it would have made a beautiful but deadly scenery.

* * *

Sakon and Tayuya were the only two left to protect Sasuke until he woke up and they knew that they were being followed. It was bad luck that the Konoha Shinobi where of great number so that they could fight each member of the Sound Four and still chase after Sasuke. Not only that they also seemed strong enough to keep Jiroubou and Kidoumaru from catching up again meaning they might be defeated after all.

"How long until Sasuke-sama wakes up?" Sakon asked Tayuya.

"How the hell should I know when that prissy prick wakes up?" Tayuya snapped back in her usual tone.

"Shit; they're getting closer again." Sakon cursed.

Tayuya didn't say anything because she had to dodge dozens of kunai that suddenly rained down on her. She slipped from the tree branch she was landing on and fell down to the ground. Luckily for her she had managed to turn over and landed neatly on her feet. She immediately looked around for her attacker while Sakon landed next to her. Not a second later Naruto and Kiba arrived as well.

"Nice job on the Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Kiba remarked.

"Thanks; it's very useful at times like this." Naruto smiled.

"We finally caught up with you guys." Kiba said to the remaining members of the Sound Four. "Give us Sasuke and you might live to see another day."

"Like we would hand over Sasuke-sama to the likes of you." Sakon said calmly.

"Sasuke-sama?" Naruto snorted. "Clearly you have no idea what the guy is like because if you did you wouldn't call him that."

"Sasuke-sama is the precious vessel for Orochimaru-sama." Sakon said sneering. "It's in our best interests to deliver him as soon as possible."

"Well, that's not going to happen." Naruto said smiling. "You see; I made it my hobby to annoy Snake face as much as possible. You should try it once you'll see its great fun."

Sakon smirked and gave Tayuya a small handsign that showed her that she needed to get ready. Naruto and Kiba saw it too and were immediately on guard for an attack. To their surprise the attack came from behind and they only managed to evade because they heard the sound of shuriken and kunai flying through the air. They jumped to the side and it was then that they noticed that something was wrong with Sakon.

"Kiba, didn't that guy have two heads when we first saw him?" Naruto asked shocked that he had missed to notice that.

"Shit, you're right." Kiba said noticing it as well.

Tayuya didn't lose any time and as soon as Naruto and Kiba were distracted by the attack she grabbed the pail and ran away. Sakon had told her that he would delay them so she could protect Sasuke until he woke up. Jumping though the trees as fast as she could she looked back seeing her teammate preparing to fight.

"Shit that girl has Sasuke." Kiba yelled frustrated. "Naruto, go get her. I'll deal with this guy."

"Right but be careful Kiba." Naruto said. "There's something strange with this guy."

"Don't worry about me and Akamaru." Kiba said. "We'll be fine; go get Sasuke back."

Naruto nodded and make a dozen Kage Bunshin so Sakon wouldn't know which one to stop and started chasing Tayuya. He was going to kill Sasuke if one of his friends got injured because of him. He shook his head clear of such thoughts and tried to calm down. He had to stay calm and not let his emotions get the best of him just like Anko had taught him. He couldn't afford any mistakes or slipups if he wanted to get Sasuke back.

Kiba and Akamaru were sizing up their adversary; so far they hadn't seen any techniques but he knew something was seriously wrong with this guy. While Naruto had run off Kiba had lost sight of Sakon for a split second and when he found him again the guy had his second head back. He would have to be very careful about this he realized. Akamaru too could feel something was wrong and told his owner to stay on guard. Deciding that the best defense is an offense Kiba attacked first; he ran towards Sakon and engaged him with Taijutsu.

Kiba had learned a lot from Naruto's way of fighting and though the Inuzuka had their own way of fighting he had managed to combine some techniques. He dodged a punch from Sakon and grabbed it and pulled him closer while slamming his elbow into Sakon's ribs. To his surprise a hand blocked his elbow but what was really freaking Kiba out was that the hand seemed to come out of Sakon's midriff. He quickly jumped back and starred at the strange sight before him.

Sakon smirked evilly and attacked by driving Kiba against a tree so he couldn't back up any more. Kiba cursed knowing that he was in a bad situation but before Sakon could do anything Akamaru jumped from Kiba's jacket and clawed Sakon in the face making him scream in pain. Kiba didn't waste the opportunity and kicked Sakon in the face before using his 'Gatsuuga' to hit him in the chest sending him flying.

"Thanks Akamaru." Kiba said when he landed.

* * *

Tayuya was cursing loudly while jumping though the trees. She couldn't believe her bad luck; she was the only one left of the Sound Four and while she was no pushover she was the weakest of them all. She didn't doubt that one of those two Konoha Shinobi was already following her meaning she would have to fight as well leaving the prick she was carrying unguarded. She was about to curse some more when she felt movement inside the pail. She quickly stopped and sat the pail on the ground backing up a little. She saw that the seals that were preventing the pail from being opened were slowly burning up. If she had to guess in a few minutes Sasuke would wake up ready to fight.

"Come on asshole, wake the fuck up." Tayuya yelled loudly.

"You shouldn't shout at people who are just waking up." A voice said. "It tends to make people wake up in a bad mood."

"Shit, so you already caught up with me." Tayuya said looking at Naruto from the ground.

"It's over. My teammates will deal with your friends and we'll take Sasuke back to Konoha." Naruto said jumping from the tree to ground level.

"You seem to think that I'll let you pass without a fight?" the Sound girl said biting her thumb and did some handseals before putting her hands on the ground. Naruto recognized the handseals as a summoning jutsu and prepared himself.

Tayuya loudly said 'Kuchiyose No Jutsu' and Naruto watched in amazement how three giant ogres appeared behind her. It was unlike anything he had ever seen and they looked to be very strong. He wondered how she would fight using them and was shocked when she took out a small flute out of her pocket.

"Let me play you a melody of death for you." Tayuya smirked.

Naruto made two Kage Bunshin and got ready for the attack. As soon as the girl put her flute to her mouth and started playing the ogres started their attacks. Each ogre attacked a Naruto who evaded the attacks. Naruto noticed that the ogres were very strong judging that they destroyed the tree he was standing on with only one attack they were also slower than him. He easily evaded the attacks and took some distance from them.

The ogres were a menace he realized and they kept him from getting closer to the girl effectively protecting her and Sasuke. The girl seemed perfectly calm and Naruto guessed she was very confident in her skills in controlling her ogres. She saw how she smiled and started playing once more. He braced himself for another attack but surprisingly the ogres didn't move an inch. He looked in amazement and shock how they opened there mouths and something white came out. It looked like some kind of Chakra but what really surprised him was that the things had mouths as well.

The tune of her song changed and the ogres shot forward with the white appendixes still hanging out. The real Naruto managed to dodge the ogre that came to him with the two clones weren't so lucky. They got pierced by the white chakra and Naruto looked on as the clones were absorbed. Wondering what had happened he quickly made some few dozen Kage Bunshins and ordered them to attack the ogres while he dealt with the girl who summoned them.

Tayuya smirked as she saw her ogres demolish the clones and feasted on their chakra; the blonde didn't stand a chance if all he did was making clones. On the contrary he would only provide her with extra chakra which suited her fine of course. She guessed the real one was hiding in the mass of clones so sooner or later the ogres would hit the real one or he would be the only one left. Suddenly she heard a loud hissing sound from behind her and she saw that the pail released a thick dark mist from inside. Knowing that Sasuke could wake up any second she used her flute to order her ogres to step up the attacks.

Naruto wasn't hiding amongst the other clones; instead he was sitting just above them waiting for a chance to attack. He had a clone next to him so he could use him in the attack he had planned. He needed to get rid of those things as fast as he could. He too had seen what happened with the pail and he had come to the same conclusion. Sasuke was about to wake up and he would need to stop him. Naruto unsheathed his sword and waited for the precise moment the three ogres were aligned. The clones followed the original Naruto's actions as well. He focused a lot of chakra into the seal of his sword and just then the ogres did what he wanted them to do.

'Tenjou Saidan Kaze No Jutsu' both Naruto's yelled out and just like the time during his fight with Momochi Zabuza a cross made out of wind appeared and cut straight through the three ogres. Tayuya cursed loudly as her summons were destroyed and was about to attack when the pail exploded and Sasuke stood up. Naruto looked at Sasuke and saw that his hair was much longer and white in color; not only the color of his hair was different; his skin was much darker as well. Tayuya and Naruto watched as Sasuke started to laugh loudly before he jumped into the trees and disappeared again.

"Sasuke, what happened to you?" Naruto said out loud.

* * *

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope it wasn't too bad but like I said in the beginning AN I had a really tough time writing it. Hopefully the next chapter will be better and back to the usual standard. Expect the next chapter in 3 weeks since next week I have a family reunion and I can't write for a whole weekend. So next chapter in THREE weeks. See you all then.


	38. Chapter 38: Leaf VS Sound

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this new chapter of my story. I hope everyone is doing ok in life and that everyone is in good health.

This chapter has been difficult to write as I'm having a serious writer's block on this story. Still I won't give up and I'm sure that I'll get passed this. The recent chapters in Naruto have given me some information and inspiration to work with so that's good. I just have to get past this Sasuke retrieval Arc part and then I'm positive that I can come up with new stuff. I'll probably divert from cannon more and more as this story moves along.

Anyway, I just loved the last few chapter of the manga. Finally Naruto gets some recognition and kicks ass. Though I'm careful so I don't get too carried away; Kishimoto has disappointed me before. For example the fight between Naruto and Kazuku. It could have been a great moment for Naruto if he only didn't fail his first try of his new technique. He always make Naruto look like an idiot in the end but I hope that won't happen now.

Enough rambling enjoy the chapter and let me know how I did.

* * *

Chapter 38: Leaf VS Sound

Each of the Konoha shinobi was facing extraordinary opponents and they all knew that they would have to push themselves beyond their limits to defeat them. The group had recognized the Sound Four as those who had created the barrier that surrounded Orochimaru and the Sandaime during their fight. To be appointed as the personal bodyguards of one of the Sannin they would have to be strong and reliable. That didn't mean however that they would allow them to just abduct a Konoha shinobi even one as annoying as Sasuke.

Sakura and Hinata were currently facing one of the Sound four called Jiroubou and he proved to be a formidable adversary so far. For someone his size he was surprisingly fast and agile and that complicated the fight quite a bit. On top of that Jiroubou had superior strength compared to the girls so one hit could mean the end for them. Luckily Hinata and Sakura had been training together for several months now and they had build up quite some decent teamwork along the way.

Hinata and Sakura knew each other's strong and weak points so they made sure to cover each other's back during the fight. Hinata used her Jyuken to distract Jiroubou while Sakura used her chakra-strengthened punch to deal damage to Jiroubou. Right now the Sound-Nin was ducking under one of the pink-haired kunoichi's punches but Hinata slipped through his defense and nailed him straight in the leg limiting his movements just enough for Sakura to hit him in the face. Jiroubou stumbled backwards angered that these two weaklings were able to hurt him.

"Great job Sakura-chan." Hinata said pausing for a second.

"Thanks, you too." Sakura said breathing a little harder than her friend. Like always, her stamina was her weak point even though she had made a lot of progress.

Jiroubou couldn't believe that he was going to be forced to use his cursed seal to defeat these two girls. In his eyes it was humiliating as he knew that both girls were still genin but he honestly started to doubt the reports the Oto intelligence gatherers had supplied them with. No genin was this strong in his opinion. It didn't really matter what rank they were since they were going to die anyway he grinned.

"Enough with the games." Jiroubou said menacingly. "From now on I'm getting serious." Hinata and Sakura noticed how marks in the form of triangles seemed to appear on his body. This made them instantly on guard as they both knew what that meant. Sakura had seen something similar when Sasuke activated his Cursed Seal in the Forest of Death all those months ago. She was still terrified at the power and strength it seemed to give Sasuke not to mention how messed up his psyche was under the influence of the Seal.

Hinata too knew what the marks meant as Naruto and Anko had warned their team more than enough about this event. The Seal would allow the user more strength and power so she was sure that defeating Jiroubou had just gotten a whole lot tougher. Still, she wasn't about to throw the towel in the ring just because of that; she too had some ace upon her sleeve. She hadn't been training for months with her father and Neji for nothing after all.

"Sakura-chan, be careful and stay focused." Hinata said confident. "We can beat him even with his Cursed Seal active."

"R-Right; we can do this." Sakura said slamming a fist in the palm of her other hand. "Let's show this guy what Konoha Kunoichi's are capable of."

Hinata smiled and nodded to Sakura and focused back on Jiroubou. She glanced at Sakura and together they shot forward to engage the enemy once more. Sakura threw the first punch and Jiroubou had barely time to block the punch but he winced as he felt the pain in his arms from blocking. He cursed her strength and used one of his own techniques called 'Houshou' to nail Sakura in the gut but his fist was slapped away by Hinata using her Jyuken.

'These two work together too well.' Jiroubou thought. 'One attacks while the other defends, rests or waits for the right moment.'

Hinata didn't let up and seeing she was currently inside his guard she used one of the techniques Neji had taught her over the past few months. A quickly as she had appeared she started spinning real fast and expulsed her chakra creating a moderate 'Kaiten' flying Jiroubou several yards away. Jiroubou crashed into to ground painfully and tried to get up before they could attack him while he was down. He wasn't fast enough however as Sakura planted a powerful chakra enhanced punch into his gut burying him into the earth.

"Alright." Both girls yelled loudly before high-fiving each other. They were sure that nobody would survive such an attack. They were tired though and sat down a bit too rest up before they would join the others. To their surprise and shock a huge explosion threw them on the ground wondering what had happened all of the sudden. They looked at where the explosion came from and couldn't believe their eyes when they saw a figure appearing from the smoke. The figure looked a lot like Jiroubou but had more hair and his skin was a darker tone as well. On his head and shoulder there were horns that would deal some extra damage when hitting an adversary.

"I can't believe I had to activate Level 2 to fight two little girls." Jiroubou said with a menacing voice. "But it all ends here; this form gives more than 10 times my original strength."

He proved it by appearing in front of the girls and throwing a punch at them. Hinata and Sakura were stunned at his new speed but managed to evade the punch by somersaulting to the side away from him. They looked in shock as they saw the crater Jiroubou had made with only one punch. They both knew that if they got hit with such a punch they would be out for the fight if not be killed on the spot. Slowly Jiroubou pulled his arm out of the ground and turned to the girls once more.

"Too bad this form eats at my chakra but one attack should be enough to dispose of you two." Jiroubou said with an evil sneer on his face.

"Sakura-chan, we only get one shot at this." Hinata said. "I'll slow him down enough by hitting his pressure points and his Tenketsu; you attack him from behind."

Sakura nodded and prepare to do her part in the attack. She knew she could count on Hinata to back her up and she followed Hinata when she stormed straight at Jiroubou. The Sound-Nin was a bit confused as why the kunoichis would run straight at their own death but he guessed it was okay. He could deal with them on their own terms; he still had enough chakra left and he loved to see the faces of despair on his enemies face's when they realized that nothing they did worked.

He noticed that the pink-haired girl stayed behind her friend and figured they would once again double-team like they had done throughout the fight. Hinata slipped into her own fighting stance and started hitting Jiroubou who simply evade most of the hits. Hinata smirked inwardly as she saw how Jiroubou ignored the hits that did land; if he paid attention he would have noticed that she hit several pressure points throughout his body that would slow him down quite a bit. She had to stop attacking him when he retaliated and she barely survived the kick that send her flying. Jiroubou laughed and ran straight at her intent on using 'Gangeki'. Hinata nodded at Sakura indicating that she should be ready to attack; looking at Jiroubou advancing on her she used her own technique 'Shugohakke Rokujūyon Shō'.

Jiroubou couldn't believe that this little girl had managed to stop what was one of his strongest attacks just by creating a shield of chakra. Still stunned of being stopped he didn't notice Sakura and Hinata move and by the time he did Sakura hit him straight in the back where his heart was positioned while Hinata attacked him from the front. Normally Jiroubou might have been able to dodge or block these attacks but just then his body refused to move thanks to Hinata hitting the pressure points earlier. Jiroubou's heart exploded from the attacks killing him instantly; he slumped down and reverted back to his normal appearance.

Sakura and Hinata fell down as well; they had both used every bit of chakra they had left in those last attacks and both were spend. They checked to make sure Jiroubou was truly defeated this time; as they felt no pulse they relaxed and lied down on the ground breathing heavily.

"We did it." Sakura said breathing deeply. "I can't believe we managed to defeat such an opponent."

"Guess all that training together really paid off huh?" Hinata nodded.

"You have no idea how proud I am of myself at this moment." Sakura admitted. She had been working very hard to catch up with her peers after all those months of ignoring training to chase after Sasuke. It hadn't been until the Chuunin exams that she finally realized how misguided she truly was and that she started to take being a kunoichi serious. Thanks to Hinata and the rest she had been training seriously for months now and in her opinion it showed today.

"You've made some amazing progress Sakura-chan." Hinata said to her friend. "You've become a true kunoichi of the Leaf today."

"Thanks Hinata; hearing you say that means a lot to me." Sakura said with a small tear in her eyes. This was what she had been fighting for; recognition from the girl who had inspired her to become strong. All the pain she had to endure during training meant nothing to her as long as Hinata and her friends accepted her.

"Let's rest for a bit and when we're up to it we'll join the rest. I'm worried about everyone." Hinata said.

"You're right; we're lucky that neither of us is hurt." Sakura nodded. "I'll take first watch while you rest."

Hinata nodded and closed her eyes trying to rest as much as possible in a short time. It took her only a few seconds to fall asleep making Sakura smile. She would protect her friend no matter what she promised. She went over the body of Jiroubou and took everything of value before sealing his corpse into a storage scroll like her sensei had taught her. She was sure that people at Konoha would like to investigate everything that had to do with the Cursed Seal.

* * *

A few miles further Shino was engaging Kidoumaru and things hadn't been going that well for the bug-using shinobi. While he managed to evaded most of the spider-like man's attacks he hadn't been able to land a hit of his own. Both shinobi were long-range fighters; Shino who used his bugs and Kidoumaru who seemed to be able to create weapons from some substance that came out of his mouth. So far neither of them had gained the upper hand but it was only a matter of time before one succeeded in hurting the other.

"This is so much fun." Kidoumaru said before launching another volley of self-made kunai.

Shino didn't bother to respond and used his own kunai to block the incoming attack with ease. He realized that fighting this opponent would last forever if one of them didn't engage the other directly. They had been fighting for over a half hour now by using long-ranged attacks. While he understood this he wasn't exactly thrilled to be the one to switch to close-ranged attacks as those weren't really his strong point. He remembered what happened at the beginning of the fight when Kidoumaru grabbed him with his extra arms and threw him into a three. Luckilly he had been able to land properly otherwise who knew what might have happened to him. Seeing another volley of kunai heading his way he decided that he didn't have a choice in the matter if he wanted to leave this fight alive.

"Doton: Doryuuheki no Jutsu" Shino said quickly before creating a huge wall made of dirt that stopped the weapons from reaching him. He quickly made a 'Mushi Bunshin' and used another Doton Jutsu called 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu No Jutsu' that allowed him to sink into the ground.

The 'Mushi Bunshin' jumped over the wall appearing in plain sight and started searching for Kidoumaru who was hiding in the trees above. The real Shino used this moment to hide himself in the bushes on the other side and ordered one of his bugs to search out Kidoumaru. This bug had a special ability; it was a female of the species he had and the bug would release a scent that was only noticeable to the male bugs. This would allow him to track his opponent no matter where he might hide. The bug was also very small so it was hardly noticeable if you didn't know it was there.

Kidoumaru was having a lot of fun with his opponent. He had to admit that the kid was good at dodging and blocking his attacks so far. Kidoumaru loved to play with his enemies; it was one of the things that Orochimaru-sama liked about him or so he had been told. What was the fun in immediately defeating your opponent? No, to him the chase or hunt was much more fun than the actual killing of the prey. This was also the reason why he didn't really get along with the rest of the Sound Five as most of them didn't understand this. It didn't really matter to him anyway.

Kidoumaru was also an expert in traps and he had made several to deal with the Konoha shinobi. His abilities allowed him to make spider-like treads with that were made with chakra and with a flick of his finger he could make a trap go off. Seeing that Shino stood waiting for him he let loose another trap filled with dagger like weapons that headed straight towards him. He loved seeing his prey dodge and evade desperately and smiled blissfully.

The bug that Shino had ordered to find Kidoumaru didn't have any trouble at all to find him. After all Shino and Kidoumaru were the only sources of chakra in the vicinity and the bug could easily find them. Like his master ordered the bug placed itself on the Sound-Nin's body; Kidoumaru didn't notice the bug landing on his back near his waist and continued to attack Shino unaware that it was a Bunshin he was attacking. Shino however now knew where his opponent was and slowly but surely positioned himself behind him in order to attack him. He knew he had to surprise him so he opted for a double attack. He ordered his bugs to attack and drive Kidoumaru towards him so he could attack him with a Jutsu.

Kidoumaru almost yelled out when the Konoha genin was struck with several of his projectile but cursed when he noticed that the Bunshin was nothing more than bugs. He quickly looked around him in order to spot Shino but a sound alerted him. He looked up and saw thousands of bugs descending towards him intent on sucking him dry of Chakra. He smirked and jumped backward but the bugs followed him; it seemed like a huge black cloud was following him. To his surprise the cloud separated into three smaller clouds each one following him and trying to attack him. Kidoumaru evaded the bugs not realizing he was being led to a specific place. He jumped down from the tree into a clearing and prepared to deal with the bugs when he suddenly heard a voice.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu" Shino's voice said from behind him. Kidoumaru didn't have time to dodge the dragon made of fire because of the close distance and was engulfed in fire.

Shino looked on as Kidoumaru was being led towards him by his bugs and prepared to attack. When Kidoumaru finally reached him he went through the necessary handseals for his fire jutsu and attacked. He expected Kidoumaru to be able to dodge it but clearly he had been wrong when he saw the Sound-Nin being burned alive. Shino's bugs returned to him and he breathed deeply. That was his strongest Fire Jutsu and it had taken a lot of chakra but it had been worth it. He turned his back on the dead shinobi when his bugs alerted him; shocked he felt something pass him by when he looked back and his right arm exploded in pain. He heard a 'thud' and saw that an arrow had planted itself into a tree behind him. He looked at his arm and saw a gaping wound just above his elbow. The arrow had cut a deep wound missing the bone by only half an inch.

Shocked he looked up and saw Kidoumaru standing there but what puzzled him even more was the fact that his whole appearance had changed. Kidoumaru's skin had darkened and he had much more hair than before. That wasn't what surprised him the most though; no it was the third eye on his forehead and the two horns that he now had that did it. Shino had never heard of such a Jutsu and wondered what was going on.

"From the look on your face I can tell you've never seen the Cursed Seal Level 2 before." Kidoumaru said smirking. "I admit that you're attack was well planned and you might have defeated me if it wasn't for this. Nevertheless, I grew tired of this game so I'm going to finish it once and for all."

Kidoumaru then threw a smoke bomb and disappeared from view. Shino was thinking about what he had just seen and wondered if the rest had to face such a monstrous opponent as well. If this was something that someone with a Cursed Seal could do then he couldn't help but worry for his friends. He also wondered if Sasuke was capable of such a feat and if so what would happen to those who fought him. He didn't really like or dislike Sasuke but he acknowledged him as a strong and talented in the Shinobi arts. He shook his head knowing that now wasn't the time to worry about the others; he had to defeat Kidoumaru so he could help Naruto in stopping Sasuke from reaching Orochimaru.

He thought about his current situation and predicament; his opponent had gotten an upgrade and seemed stronger than ever while he was running low on chakra. He guessed he had about enough Chakra left for three more jutsu. That meant that he couldn't waste any attacks needlessly; judging from the arrow that wounded him his opponent would probably use the same attack again. Shino had learned enough about his adversary to know that he was a long-range fighter and the bow was an excellent weapon. He focused his mind and started planning for his defense and attack. He asked his bugs if they could still locate the female bug that he had placed on Kidoumaru. Unfortunately the bug had been killed by the Katon Jutsu but the scent was still there; it was weak and fading fast but it would work. All he had to do now was wait for Kidoumaru to make the first move.

Kidoumaru was judging the distance between him and his prey; he grinned knowing that Shino had no way to locate him. The next attack would be the last he was sure of that. He had never missed a target with this particular bow before; it was created by the substance that his body produced and the arrow was hard enough to pierce through rock. Carefully he took aim at Shino's back and after a few adjustments he fired.

Shino was a talented shinobi coming from a strong clan; during his time at the academy he had downplayed his skill a bit so he wouldn't be the best but also not the last. At the end of his time at the academy he was in the top 10 of his class and that was more than good enough for him. When Naruto had joined their team he was surprised at how strong the blond had become in such a short time so he too had doubled his training. He asked his father for more training with his family Jutsu and how to interact with his bugs. The Aburame Clan had a close relationship with the bugs they used in fights and they had to learn to communicate in order to fight effectively. Thanks to intensive training he and his bugs were able to communicate as well as senior members of his clan; in fact he had acquired a bit of status because of that.

The bugs that the Aburame Clan used had several purposes one being the leeching of Chakra from an enemy. If enough bugs landed on an enemy they could suck him dry in less than a minute but of course most shinobi were careful enough to avoid that. Another purpose was recon and spying; this was how Shino had used them to pass the first part of the Chuunin exam. They would also be used to warn their host of danger if capable. This was why Shino was able to know that Kidoumaru had started his attack. He twisted on his feet facing the incoming arrow and raced through handseals intent on stopping the attack.

"Aburame Hijutsu: Mushi Tate" and a shield of bugs appeared before Shino just in time to intercept the arrow.

The force of the moving arrow seemed to strong however and the arrow broke through the shield; Shino realizing the shield had been penetrated moved just in time to evade the arrow. He wasn't in the clear however and the arrow managed to cut through his clothes and skin making a large horizontal wound on Shino's chest. He had twisted his body sideways just in time to avoid being skewered by the arrow. Ignoring the pain Shino used his remaining Chakra to use the 'Shunshin No Jutsu' and appeared just behind Kidoumaru with a kunai in hand. Kidoumaru who was still angry about having missed his target didn't register Shino's attack until he felt a kunai pierce his heart.

Kidoumaru stumbled back in shock and fell of the branch he was sitting on hitting the ground hard. He didn't feel it however as he had already died; his body transformed back to his normal appearance. Shino jumped down and calmly sealed the body into a scroll after checking for any sign of life. Only then did he allow himself to give into the pain his chest and arm gave him. He sat down and took out a small first aid kit out of his pouch. He knew he had to bandage the wounds lest he bleed to death. When he was done he tried to move but his legs finally gave out on him and he fell down; sighing he accepted that he was in no condition to fight so he might as well rest for a bit.

* * *

Kiba and Akamaru were stumped by what they had seen. Kiba had attempted to punch Sakon only to have his fist blocked by a third hand. Taking his distance Kiba wondered what the hell was up with this guy. First of all there was the second head that seemed to grow from the back of Sakon's neck and now a third hand? What kind of freak was he dealing with?

"I'm guessing you're wondering what's going on?" Sakon laughed loudly. "You see, I have a brother Ukon but his body is weak so he rests inside me most of the time."

"Rests inside you?" Kiba asked shocked.

"Like this." Sakon said and Kiba watched how the second head turned and spoke to him. "Sakon, don't waste time with this trash."

"Don't worry Ukon; I'll finish this one soon enough." Sakon said to his brother.

"Gross!" Kiba exclaimed loudly. "I've seen some weird shit but this is just plain wrong. Your brother lives INSIDE you?"

"Huh, someone like you wouldn't understand so why bother explaining." Sakon said shrugging.

Sakon shot towards Kiba and hit him right in the chest knocking him back. Before Kiba could retaliate Ukon's arm grabbed him and Sakon punched him simultaneously in the face and in the gut before throwing him into a rock formation. Kiba's head was spinning for a moment but he quickly got up and told Akamaru to get ready. The puppy barked signaling he was ready and together they used one of the Inuzuka Clan Jutsu called 'Gatsuuga' to attack the two brothers that shared one body.

Thanks to the months of intensive training Kiba had made some impressive progress and his speed while performing the techniques went up by a lot. He was easily twice as fast as he was in the Chuunin exams and he attacked viciously. Sakon managed to dodge the first two attacks of the two spinning Kiba's but he couldn't avoid being hit with the third attack. Kiba hit him straight in the back and drilled him into the cold hard ground. Kiba and Akamaru halted their attack to see the damage they had inflicted but the dust cloud prevented them from seeing anything. He had to dodge quickly when two shadows shot out of the cloud and almost succeeded in hitting him.

"If there are two of you then we should fight as two as well. What do you think Ukon?" Sakon asked.

"Right you are brother." Ukon said smiling.

Kiba cursed; he had thought that Ukon was unable to leave his brother's body so that he would have the advantage but that idea went straight out the window. Also their body seemed to change in front of his eyes; first a pattern of lines appeared before they fused together and covered both their bodies. Soon their skin had changed into a darker color and their faces seemed to transform into a devil's face. Ukon had a large horn on the left side of his head while Sakon had one on the right side. Their chins had become long and pointy just like their fingernails. Each brother had a transformed left or right side that seemed to be made out of horns and claws.

'What the hell is going on with these guys?' Kiba desperately thought. 'This definitely wasn't in the job description. Stupid Uchiha betraying Konoha.'

Akamaru became worried about his master; clearly his master had started panicking and that wouldn't do. So Akamaru did the only thing he could do to calm his master down; he bit him. Kiba winced at the sudden pain in his hand and looked at his faithful companion. Akamaru barked his opinion to Kiba who couldn't help but agree; he couldn't give up now. He had to stay strong and defeat this bastard so he could help out Naruto and the rest. Kiba thanked Akamaru and started planning for an attack. He still had a lot of chakra available to him and a few techniques he had been holding back so he could use them in battle.

"Akamaru, we're going in so be ready to mark the targets." Kiba said to which Akamaru barked his agreement. For his plan to work he would need to distract the brother for a bit but that wasn't a real problem. "Let's go, Akamaru."

Kiba went through some handseals and slammed his fist into the ground. As soon as his hands hit the ground a dragon made of dirt rose and shot towards the brothers. The brothers didn't move as they were sure that they could dodge the attack on the last moment. They were surprised however when the dragon fired some bullets made of dirt straight at them just before it reached them. Sakon managed to dodge the bullet but Ukon was hit in the face making him cry out in pain. Sakon distracted by his brother's yell turned to look at him and didn't see Akamaru aiming for him. Suddenly he felt something wet hit him in the face.

"Urgh, what the hell?" Sakon yelled out surprised. "It stinks; is this dog piss?"

Kiba didn't answer the question but instead took out two simple smoke bombs and threw right in front of Sakon. He and Akamaru then used 'Gatsuuga' once more and tried to hit Sakon before he managed to leave the smoke.

"I might not be able to see you but you can't me see either." Sakon said but was only barely able to finish his sentence when Kiba hit him in the gut pushing him straight up in the air. When he reached him maximum height he twisted away from Sakon to allow Akamaru (henged in Kiba) to hit Sakon in the back sending him back down. Sakon who hadn't even recovered from the first hit winced as he felt several bones break under the force of hitting the ground again.

Ukon who had finally recovered from the hit in the face saw his brother hit the ground and hurried his way over. Sakon's body melted into Ukon's so he could rest; the advantage of this was that healing went much faster that way. Ukon doubted his brother would be fully healed by the end of the fight but there was nothing that could be done about it for now.

"Good job Akamaru." Kiba said to his puppy.

"You little shit. Don't think you have won already." Ukon yelled out. "That attack won't work a second time."

Kiba knew the Sound-Nin was right and that he had to change tactics if he wanted to walk away from this fight. Right now he had the advantage but his chakra reserves were almost empty as that Doton Jutsu was a high-ranked one; that combined with the combination attacks had pretty much used all his chakra. Seeing no other way he prepared himself to use their ultimate Jutsu. He had been training for that Jutsu for months now. It was highly taxing on his muscles and tendons as his body wasn't completely ready for it but he had no other choice in his eyes.

"Akamaru, we're using 'that'." Kiba said and Akamaru barked. "Inuzuka Jutsu: Soutourou"

Ukon watched as a huge two-headed wolf appeared in front of him and involuntary he took a step back. His brother's wounds were far from healed so he wouldn't be able to split up. This meant that he was the only target thus endangering both of them. He couldn't afford to be hit by an attack of this huge dog. He didn't get the time to react however as the double-headed wolf shot towards him spinning around like the previous attacks. The speed and strength were on a whole other level however and while he appeared to have dodged the main blow, the sharp winds still cut him deeply as the wolf passed him by. Several deep cuts appeared all over his body and he landed on one knee in pain. He tried to get up but the injuries he received before and his brothers own injuries hindered him long enough for Kiba to turn around and hit him once more straight in the chest.

Kiba was on his last legs as well and he aimed to slam the combined brothers into the large rock formation in front of him. Luckily for him Ukon was too hurt to move in time and he succeeded in his plan. With the drilling force the large wolf had and the rock to stop his advancement Ukon's body was torn to shreds fatally wounding both him and his brother. Kiba's Jutsu ended only a few seconds later and Kiba and Akamaru dropped down both breathing deeply and hurting from almost every muscle and tendon they had. Still he knew that he had to finish off the brothers before they managed to surprise him when he had his back turned. He took out a kunai and dragged himself to where Ukon and Sakon were lying.

"W-why?" Ukon finally said.

"Why what?" Kiba asked curious.

"Why d-do you f-fight f-for someone w-who's b-betraying your v-village?" Ukon asked him.

"It's how we do things in Konoha." Kiba shrugged. "Sasuke isn't my friend nor is he someone precious to me but he's a shinobi of the Leaf. That's reason enough for me." Kiba said before he ended the life of his opponents. Akamaru howled in recognition of a strong adversary and in celebration of their victory. Kiba sat down and petted his puppy on the head before laid down on the ground unable to move any further.

* * *

Naruto watched as Sasuke jumped away and disappeared into the trees wondering what the hell had happened to the young Uchiha. He tried to follow him but the Sound kunoichi jumped in front of him and blocked the way. Naruto growled in anger at being hindered from chasing Sasuke.

"You're not going anywhere shithead." Tayuya smirked. He might have destroyed her summons but she still had several ways to stop him from reaching Sasuke.

She put the flute to her mouth so she could use one of her favorite Genjutsu. Before she could bring out a single note blood splattered all around her and then pain erupted from her chest and body. She turned her head slowly and saw Naruto standing on a branch behind her with his sword in hand. She didn't understand how he did it but somehow he had passed by her and attacked her without she even noticed him.

"I'm sorry but I can't afford messing around with you." Naruto apologized.

"F-fuck you S-s-shith-head." She said before the light disappeared from her eyes and her body dropped to the floor.

Naruto paid no mind and jumped forward intent on catching Sasuke before he left Hi no Kuni. He wouldn't be able to follow him if he did so it was imperative that he stopped him as soon as possible. He ran across a huge clearing following the tracks made by Sasuke and wondered why he didn't even bother covering his tracks. Naruto jumped into the trees once he passed the clearing and sped up a little; apparently Sasuke had been making lots of progress as he was very fast. Naruto finally saw Sasuke a bit further and he focused some extra chakra into his legs so he could catch up. He left the forest behind him and landed on a huge stone statue of some kind. Across there was another statue and between both was a huge waterfall separating both. Sasuke was waiting for him on the other statue with an arrogant look on his face.

"So you finally caught up with me, Dobe?" Sasuke said smirking.

* * *

Thank you for reading and let me know how you felt about this people will ask what happened with Kimimaro and the fight with him. If you remember I wrote that Kimimaro died because of his sickness. The timeframe between my story and the manga is different. The genin and Naruto spend six extra months training with all their Jounin sensei. This was enough time for Kimimaro to succumb to his disease so that's why he isn't in this story.

The next chapter will be Naruto VS Sasuke and I'll try to make this an epic fight worthy of Naruto. See you guys soon.


	39. Chapter 39: Naruto VS Sasuke

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of this story. First of all I would like to thank everyone who has ever read this story and those reading it as well. Over the past few weeks this stories achieved over 600 000 hits. This is far more than I had ever expected and I can't thank you all enough for this. I'm glad to see that someone like me can write something that so many people like.

Anyway this chapter deals with the fight between Naruto and Sasuke and I hope I did the fight justice. I thought long and hard about how I should write it and this was what I came up with. I had some more prepared but I decided not to since it became a bit over the top lol. There's only one part I'm not satisfied with and that's Kakashi's fight. I just couldn't make it work for some reason. Oh well, that's the way it goes I guess. This chapter also begins the end of part 1 of this story. The second part will continue right after this one so no worry about having to wait for weeks or months on end before the second part starts. Though I have been wondering if I should make the second part in a new story or just continue here. Haven't decided yet but you'll be the first to know in the next chapter.

Enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 39: Naruto VS Sasuke

Naruto looked at Sasuke standing there with a huge smirk on his face; inwardly Naruto was fuming mad at the Uchiha heir. He and his friends had been risking their lives for him and all that the arrogant boy could do was smirk and grin at him. Didn't he realize just what he had done? Or was it that he just didn't care anymore about Konoha and his fellow shinobi. Naruto studied Sasuke's face and saw that there were still some traces from the Cursed seal present as the marks covered half of Sasuke's cheek and one eye was yellow instead of his normal color.

"Do you have any idea what trouble you have caused?" Naruto yelled at Sasuke.

"Trouble I caused?" Sasuke snorted. "I didn't ask any of you to chase me across the country. In fact I hoped that I could get away without you catching up to me but I guess it was inevitable in the end."

"Why did you betray us? What is the matter with you?" Naruto asked him although he knew the answer already.

"Like you would understand anything about me." Sasuke yelled back. "But fine, I'll tell you why I left. I'm sick and tired of being treated some second rate shinobi."

"Second rate shinobi? What that's supposed to mean?" Naruto said unbelievingly. "The village treated you like royalty all your life. You are worshipped by most of the villagers. People go out of their way to treat you right."

"Yet you're the one who got promoted to Chuunin weren't you?" Sasuke answered. "You're the one who get to be apprenticed to one of the Legendary Sannin while I'm stuck with weaklings like Kakashi, Gai and Kurenai. Not to mention you're bitch of a girlfriend."

"Is this what this is all about; you're jealous of me?" Naruto asked shocked. He knew that Sasuke didn't like him at all and that he considered himself better than all the rest but to betray your own village just because of that was just too much. He had to restrain himself so he wouldn't attack Sasuke for insulting Anko but he had a feeling he would get his chance soon enough.

"You're nothing compared me and yet you get all these privileges. You, the dead last gets to be trained by a Sannin while I, the elite of the elite must be satisfied with weaklings." Sasuke snarled at Naruto. "None of you understand what I must accomplish and what I need to complete my revenge and that's why I left."

"So Orochimaru promised you power is that it?" Naruto understood.

"Orochimaru gave me the power to defeat Itachi." Sasuke smiled. "I'll do anything to complete my goals even joining him."

"He's a traitor who tried to destroy our village and everyone in it." Naruto protested. "That man does nothing for free, surely you understand that. Whatever he promised you it will have a prize."

"Didn't you hear me earlier?" Sasuke sighed. "I'll do anything to achieve my revenge even selling my soul to the devil. I don't care about anything but my revenge."

"So you're running to a traitor for help." Naruto retorted. "I can't believe you would fall that low. Here I thought the Uchiha were honorable shinobi that protected Konoha no matter what."

"Don't you dare talk about my family!" Sasuke yelled viscously. "You have no idea what it's like to have your family massacred by your own brother. You have no idea what it feels like to come home and see each and everyone you loved dead. So don't you talk to me about my family."

"You're right I don't know what that feels like and I sympathize with you but I do know what it feels like to be alone." Naruto admitted. "But revenge is not the answer; of that I'm sure. Your family wouldn't want you to dishonor them even more. Because that is what you're doing; Itachi may have dishonored your clan by betraying them but you're doing the exact same thing. Don't you see that?"

"Shut up. I don't need your advice or sympathy." Sasuke exclaimed loudly. "All I need is the power to defeat Itachi and revenge my family."

"What good is revenge when you don't have a home to come back to? What good is revenge when you're the only one to celebrate it?" Naruto solemnly asked. "What will you do when you defeat Itachi? You'll have lost everything that's worth having in this world."

"Right now killing Itachi is the only thing I care about. I'll deal with the rest once I've completed my goals." Sasuke said not caring.

"You're an idiot Sasuke but I guess that's just my personal opinion." Naruto sighed. "Very well, if you're so hell bent on betraying Konoha than you leave me no choice. I told so a few months ago that if you ever did something that hurt my precious people I would stop you. So I've you're really serious about going to Orochimaru then it's going to be over my dead body."

"You may have gotten stronger over the last year Dobe but you don't stand a chance against an Uchiha." Sasuke said confidently.

"We'll see." Naruto said slipping into his taijutsu stance.

Both of them stared at the other waiting for the opening move. They were at a fair distance away as the waterfall separated the statues they were standing on. For a minute neither one move even an inch while measuring the other and waiting. Then as if someone rang the gong or gave the signal both boys jumped towards each other. Naruto and Sasuke met in mid air and both threw a punch towards the opponents face. It was like they had rehearsed the attack; it was simultaneously performed and for an instant it looked like both boys was going to hit the other. Naruto however dodged the punch at last second though he felt Sasuke's fist gaze his cheek; Sasuke didn't manage to evade the attack and got hit straight in the face before a following punch to the gut slammed into him. He doubled over in pain and some saliva escaped his mouth as well; he didn't have much time to recuperate as Naruto clapped his hands together above his head and slammed them into his back.

The blow was so hard that Sasuke was send crashing down into the cold dark water. Water sprang up so high that it splashed Naruto in the face. Sasuke really felt that one and cursed himself for being hit by the Dobe of all people. He sank to the bottom of the lake where he stayed a little bit to make sure he could recuperate from the blow. He also used that time to think of a strategy to dispose of Naruto.

Naruto jumped down to the water level and used his chakra to walk on top of the surface. He waited for Sasuke to resurface and calmed himself. Be getting the opening hit he had the psychological advantage and when fighting someone as emotional as Sasuke that was a significant advantage. That was something he had learned from Anko during their time in the Forest of Death and something that he had experienced more than once himself. He had no disillusions however and stayed on his guard knowing that Sasuke was skilled enough to capitalize on every small mistake he would make.

Meanwhile Sasuke had come up with a strategy and slowly swam to the surface careful not to alert Naruto. When he was about a few meters from the surface he used his chakra to accelerate and jumped up from the water behind Naruto ready to strike him in the back. Naruto heard the explosion of water behind him and barely managed to block the blow to his midriff. He quickly grabbed Sasuke's arm and started to spin around before releasing the Uchiha sending him flying one more. Sasuke however wasn't helpless and quickly recovered his equilibrium and started doing handseals. He turned to where Naruto was standing and unleashed a deadly stream of fire. Naruto saw the fire arriving and quickly went through some handseals and used a Suiton Jutsu to block the fire.

Fire met water and resulted in a lot of steam covering the area. As soon as the boys saw the silhouette of their opponent through the steam they both raced towards each other once more. This time both managed to get in a hit when they punched each other in the face before they jumped back creating some distance between them.

"Not bad Dobe." Sasuke said breathing hard. "You've got some skill, I'll admit that much."

"Right back at you, Uragirimono." Naruto said smirking. "But I can't be bothered here for too long; I have companions who're waiting for me. So let's skip the warming up exercises and get serious?"

"Fine by me Dobe." Sasuke said while getting into his Taijutsu stance.

Sasuke sped forward and engaged Naruto by trying to punch him in the gut but Naruto deftly dodged the fist and retaliated by a roundhouse kick aimed at Sasuke's temple. Sasuke saw the attack coming and ducked before throwing an uppercut at Naruto that connected. Naruto got hit straight in the jaw and was lifted of the surface of the water by a few inches by the force of the blow. Not one to take a hit without returning the favor Naruto's knee hit Sasuke in face. While in the air Naruto twisted around a full 360° before slamming his fist in Sasuke's face once more. Sasuke was sent flying and had trouble getting up.

'How is he still faster than me?' Sasuke cursed. 'Even with my Sharingan I can't follow him completely.'

Naruto didn't waste any time and threw several shuriken and kunai towards Sasuke who jumped up and blocked them easily with his own kunai. Sasuke then ran straight towards Naruto intent on using a technique he had copied from someone a few months before. He focused some extra chakra into his legs for greater speed and slipped under Naruto's guard before kicking him in the face sending him straight up. He jumped at Naruto and kicked him several times while they descended before trying to end it with a powerful kick to Naruto's stomach. Naruto however wasn't about to allow Sasuke to just kick him like that and at the last moment he reacted by grabbing Sasuke's leg and used the movement to turn them both around. Sasuke who wasn't expecting Naruto to do anything was slammed into the surface of the water first. Naruto to hit the water pretty hard too but he had managed to lessen the blow significantly while Sasuke took the full force of it.

Naruto breathed deeply as the few kicks that Sasuke had gotten in where nothing to laugh at; he was sure nothing was broken or anything but that didn't mean he didn't feel them. He watched as Sasuke reached the surface once more and crawled out of the water obviously in pain as well. Sasuke was furious that Naruto had managed to evade his attack; he might have dealt some damage to the blonde shinobi but it was almost nothing without the finishing blow that he had turned against him. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his neck where the Cursed Seal was located and he smirked; he still had that possibility he remembered. He recalled how powerful he had felt when the Seal had activated during the Chuunin Exams. Now that he had mastered it he could use it more freely and nobody was here to stop him. Slowly the Seal activated and soon the marks spread over his body and face making him grin at Naruto.

"Using the Seal already Sasuke?" Naruto said while being on guard. He knew the Seal would give Sasuke a boost in power so he had to be careful.

Sasuke glared at Naruto and jumped back several yards once more. He concentrated on his next attack and unknown to him his Sharingan developed into its final stage; the third tomoe had appeared at last. He felt the boost thanks to the seal and went through the handseals before crouching down on one knee holding his wrist. Sparks appeared and soon the Chidori was fully activated and he was ready to strike. Naruto saw Chidori and knew that he only had one Jutsu that could work against it even if he was reluctant to use it at this time of the fight. He watched as Sasuke shot forward intent on using the assassination jutsu created by Kakashi. Naruto started running forward as well while he created a Rasengan his right hand.

Chidori and Rasengan met and a huge explosion occurred; both Naruto and Sasuke were thrown back by the force of the blast and crashed down on the ground where the statues were standing on. Both were on opposite sides however. Neither of them had suffered any real damage except some bruises from crashing head first in the ground but the Chidori and Rasengan had cancelled each other out perfectly. Naruto was glad he had matched Sasuke's Cursed Seal powered Chidori knowing that Sasuke would freak out about it. He remembered how Sasuke had reacted when he saw Naruto perform the Rasengan against Gaara. The others had told him what he had said about the Chidori being superior to the Rasengan; Naruto knew better of course since Kakashi had created the Chidori as a response to his sensei's Rasengan.

Sasuke crawled out of the rubble and shook his head clear from the blow; he was stunned at the power this Rasengan jutsu truly had. He had pushed a lot of chakra in his Chidori yet Naruto managed to match his jutsu without any problem. In fact he had a suspicion that the blonde had held back so the two jutsu would only cancel each other out. Seeing that this wasn't the right way to fight Naruto he decided to engage him in Taijutsu once more. He stared at his reflection in the water and noticed that his Sharingan had evolved and it gave him a boost in confidence; he was sure that he could defeat the Dobe now. A fully evolved Sharingan would allow him to predict the movement of his opponent even better than before so he ran towards Naruto and used several kunai to distract the blonde.

Naruto saw Sasuke run straight towards him and prepared himself for the attack; he saw the kunai coming and easily dealt with them without moving. Sasuke arrived in front of Naruto and did a leg sweep which Naruto evaded by jumping over the leg. Sasuke planted his hands on the ground and did a handstand while kicking with his other leg. Naruto was surprised at his agility but managed to block the kick by bringing both his arms in front of his face. This left his torso wide open and Sasuke used that opportunity to plant his elbow in Naruto's stomach. He smirked as Naruto doubled over in pain before kneeing him in face. Naruto's head flew backwards stunned from the blow; taking a few steps back he shook his head before he counter-attacked. Naruto retaliated by doing a roundhouse kick aimed at Sasuke who easily evaded it before slipping into Naruto's guard once more and punched him in the face. Sasuke then focused some chakra in his legs and kicked Naruto so hard that the blonde shinobi flew to the other side of the lake skidding on the water.

Naruto came to a stop and shakily stood up still hurting from the blows. He was astonished at how Sasuke managed to read his movements each time and cursed that damn Kekkei Genkai. He had to admit that it was a formidable tool for a shinobi to have. Being able to see your opponent's movement like that was a huge advantage in a battle. Still he wasn't about to be defeated because of that; he had some tricks up his sleeve as well.

"What's the matter Dobe?" Sasuke yelled loudly. "Have you finally realized that you're nothing compared to me?"

Naruto didn't bother to reply to Sasuke's taunting; it would only inflate the Uchiha's ego even more. Instead he made several Kage Bunshin and stormed towards Sasuke. They reached him in no time and soon the fight was on again. The Bunshins threw kicks and punches but so far Sasuke easily blocked or evaded the attacks while taking out a few clones as well. Naruto who had mingled amongst the clones ran just behind another one who was easily dispelled by Sasuke. The cloud of smoke however covered Naruto for just a second but it was enough to catch Sasuke off guard. Naruto kicked him in the face before a clone attacked from the left punching him in the ribs; a second clone came from the right hoping to get in a blow as well but Sasuke recovered just in time and stabbed the clone with a kunai.

Seeing Sasuke hold a kunai he too took out two of his special knives where he could channel his chakra into. He had seen how Asuma-sensei fought with two knives and he had started to learn from him. He wasn't anywhere on Asuma's level but he could use them well enough. He didn't immediately channel chakra into them though as he wanted to keep that secret for a now. He looked around and saw that he still had 3 clones standing; with a nod of his head the clones engaged Sasuke once more and Naruto waited for the right moment to join in.

Sasuke was getting angry at dealing with those clones; they were very annoying as he couldn't always react in time. One clone would fall back and another attacked from the other side; it was tiring and he didn't want to waste too much of his chakra like this. Deciding to deal with them once and for all he jumped back and quickly took two more kunai out of his pouch and threw all three at the clones. Luck seemed to be on his side and all three clones dispersed. He searched for the real Naruto however couldn't find him anywhere; he went on guard immediately and armed himself with a kunai once more. Naruto who had ducked under water jumped out and attacked with his knives; Sasuke managed to evade the first slash but some of his hair got cut off indicating how close he had come to defeat. Naruto kept on attacking using his two blades but once more Sasuke managed to evade the attacks thanks to his Sharingan. That didn't deter Naruto however and he grinned at Sasuke.

Sasuke saw Naruto smiling and wondered what the blonde had planned now; he didn't have to wait long as more clones jumped out of the water and started attacking him once more. Now however all the clones were equipped with knives and Sasuke was hard-pressed to defend himself. He winced as he felt several cuts appear on his body from not being able to move fast enough. He stabbed as much clones as possible evening the odds and soon there was only one clone left. He quickly attacked the clone that for some reason didn't defend itself and 'poofed' away without moving an inch. To Sasuke's horror the only thing that remained was a paper tag like one of those exploding ones. It exploded in a big flash of bright light blinding Sasuke as he was so close to it that he didn't have the chance to close his eyes. He howled in pain as he was blinded by the extremely bright light. Knowing that Naruto would use this moment of weakness to attack he started swinging his kunai around hoping to stop Naruto.

"How did you like my 'flash-tag', Sasuke?" Naruto's voice said coming from his right side. "Don't worry, it's not permanent and you'll regain your eyesight in about half a minute." Now the voice came from his left side. Naruto then did some handseals and used 'Futon: Daitoppa No Jutsu' at Sasuke who was send flying as he couldn't avoid being hit. He hit the side of the valley so hard that he was practically buried inside it. Naruto then relaxed a bit and walked to where Sasuke was; he used the 'Tree climbing skill' to slowly walk up the mountain. He was still on guard however as he wouldn't be surprised if Sasuke was still in fighting condition. He looked at the large cloud of dust and debris and didn't dare enter it; it would be a prime moment to attack as he wouldn't be able to see anything. Suddenly a figure jumped out of the cloud and landed in front of him; he didn't have time to react and something hit him with an enormous amount of strength. Naruto fell back down to the water and just barely managed to land on his feet. Whatever had hit him had dealt some damage as his head was still spinning. He looked up and stared at the new appearance of his opponent.

Sasuke now had long white hair that came to halfway his back; his skin was dark blue and on his face was a black star like image that was place over his nose. His fingers had become claws and on his back was a wing that looked like a hand. To be honest Naruto found it repulsive but he couldn't deny that Sasuke seemed much stronger now. He wondered what the hell had just happened; was this part of the Cursed Seal as well? Anko had never said anything about such a transformation. Did the other Oto-Nin have the same abilities? He could only hope that his friends were okay.

"I can't believe that you forced me to use the Cursed Seal Level 2." Sasuke said with a changed voice. He sounded very cold and even evil to Naruto. "This fight ends now Dobe; you don't stand a chance against me now."

"Sasuke, have you even looked at yourself?" Naruto yelled out. "You've become a monster; is your revenge that important to you that you would throw away your humanity?"

"You still don't get it do you?" Sasuke laughed loudly. "With this power I can defeat my brother and finally have my revenge. I don't care about anything else." Sasuke then hunched over and seemed in pain for a second before a second wing burst out of his back. Sasuke straightened his back and laughed loudly while trying to move the two appendices on his back. It seemed to come naturally as he was able to move them without any problems. Naruto watched in morbid fascination how Sasuke seemed to lift several inches in the air. Sasuke's laughing abruptly stopped and he turned to Naruto and like a rocket he shot forward.

Naruto didn't even have the time to move as he was punched into the air by an uppercut. Tears sprung into his eyes from the pain; he shook the pain off and readied himself for another attack. The attack came from behind him and Sasuke kicked him straight in the ribs. Naruto felt a rib break under the impact of the kick and yelled out in pain; his healing abilities would deal with the broken bone soon enough but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Naruto ducked under a punch and tried to retreat so he could come up with a plan. Sasuke had other plans however and a wing hit Naruto on the head sending him down into the water.

Sasuke was ecstatic when he saw how easily he could deal with Naruto now that he had activated his Cursed Seal Level 2. He wondered why he hadn't done so in the first place but then he remembered the Oto-Nin say that the Cursed Seal couldn't only be used for a short period of time before it tried to consume them. It didn't matter to Sasuke as he more than enough time left to defeat Naruto. He would have to thank Orochimaru for giving him the power he needed to defeat Naruto but also understood that this power alone wasn't enough to get his revenge. The Sannin had better have some good stuff to teach him or else he was out of there.

Naruto sank to the bottom of the lake and used that time to give his healing ability the opportunity to heal his rib or at least make it better. That kick had been stronger than anything he had felt before except his fight with Iwa's Stone Ox. Whatever that Cursed Seal did it sure gave an amazing power boost Naruto realized. If Orochimaru was capable of enhancing his soldier like that then why didn't he use them during the invasion? Anko had told him that the chance of survival after getting the Seal is extremely low but that wouldn't matter much to people like Orochimaru. Men like that didn't care about such trivial matters. There had to be another weak point in having that Seal active. Seeing as Anko had told him that the Seal consumes the soul he guessed that using Level 2 made that consuming even worse so they would only be able to use it for a short moment.

'Still, that gives him more than enough time to dispose of me.' Naruto thought. 'I really didn't want to do this but I don't have a choice.'

Naruto swam to the surface and climbed out of the water. Luckily Sasuke was so sure of his victory that he didn't attack straight away. Naruto took off his shirt and went through some handseals before placing his hands on his chest. He breathed deeply and said 'Fuinjutsu: Zenryoku Gentei: Kaihou' and felt how the seal released the chakra that it had been holding back. It was about the same level as during his fight with Gaara but Naruto didn't stop there as he went through another set of handseals before placing hands on his chest once more. With a shout of 'Fuinjutsu: Inryoku Kaihou' the gravitational seals on him were released for the first time since he and Anko had applied them.

Sasuke watched as Naruto went released the first seal before he realized that this could be bad for him. He wondered what the seal was but when he saw Naruto go through the second set on handseals he didn't want to find out. He shot forward intending to stop Naruto from succeeding in releasing the second seal whatever it was. His eyes went wide when he heard the name of the seal and understood that maybe he had been underestimating Naruto too much now that he had used the CS 2. Sasuke appeared before Naruto with his fist cocked back and threw the punch with everything he had hoping that he would make it and defeat Naruto once and for all. To his surprise he hit nothing but air and water splashed up for the air displacement. Suddenly a huge pain erupted from his back and blood mixed with the water.

Naruto saw Sasuke attacking and smirked as he felt the seal release; he put a hand on his sword and moved. In a split second he had dodged the punch Sasuke had thrown and unsheathed his sword. He appeared several yards behind Sasuke and sheathed his sword slowly. He had cut off one of the wings on Sasuke's back so fast that Sasuke didn't even feel it until the appendix fell into the water. Naruto watched as Sasuke trashed in pain at losing a wing. Naruto didn't feel good about it but he needed to stop the Uchiha from reaching Orochimaru and this was the only way he could do that. Naruto winced however as his muscles and tendons protested at the sudden increase in speed. He remembered what Anko had warned him about.

_Flashback_

"_Listen Naruto; promise me that you'll never release the Gravity seal during a fight." Anko said seriously._

"_Huh? Why shouldn't I do that?" Naruto asked surprised. _

"_Because you need to give your muscles and tendons time to adjust to the new speed." Anko explained. "The Gravity seal is created to slowly increase in time and to be released while having the time to get used to the new speed you have. If you release the seal while fighting then you'll just rip you muscles and tendons apart."_

"_But what about people who wear weights? Isn't that the same for them?" Naruto asked interested. He could understand what Anko was saying but it still seemed weird to him._

"_True enough people who wear weights have the same problem." Anko acknowledged. "But it's not the same. People who wear weights also train without them so they could get used to the weight loss. You however can't just deactivate the seal whenever you want."_

"_I understand Anko-Sensei; I won't release the seal in battle unless one of my precious people or I are in extreme danger." Naruto promised._

_End Flashback_

'Guess this justifies unleashing the seal.' Naruto thought hoping that his girlfriend would agree.

Sasuke couldn't believe the pain he was in; somehow Naruto had managed to deliver a finishing blow to him. He didn't quite understand what happened but he was sure that Naruto had just disappeared in front of his eyes. He was about to punch him in the face when Naruto just vanished and a moment later his felt incredible pain. He looked at how his wing sank to the bottom and once more he cursed Namikaze Naruto. He bit through the pain and glared at his nemesis standing there like nothing had happened. It was just unreal how Naruto had managed to turn the tables on him so fast just by releasing two unknown seals.

Naruto looked on as Sasuke seemed to ignore the pain and started to glare at him. Deciding that he needed to finish this fight Naruto concentrated and started a set of handseals. He knew that Sasuke would be able to copy the jutsu if he didn't know it yet so he refrained from using his personally created jutsu. He used the 'Katon: Karyuu Endan' and breathed out a huge stream of fire in the shape of a dragon at Sasuke who jumped under water to evade the blazing fire. Naruto quickly jumped on the water while rushing through handseals and landed with one hand on the water surface. He concentrated and using the 'Suiton: Goshokuzame No Jutsu' five sharks made of water and chakra went to attack Sasuke.

Sasuke gulped at seeing the sharks coming straight at him and hurried back to the surface before they reached him. One shark managed to bit him in the leg but he dispelled it with a kunai; the damage was done however and this injury seriously slowed him down. He reached the surface and jumped out of the water and saw the sharks disappear as the jutsu had been released by Naruto when he saw Sasuke emerging from the water. What pissed Sasuke off even more was that he had been unable to copy the jutsu from Naruto since he didn't see the seals. Naruto wasted no time and backhanded Sasuke when he reached him before showering him with punches and kicks dealing more and more damage to Sasuke. Naruto wasn't scot-free as he felt muscle after muscle tear in protest of his new speed; he would have hurry. Sasuke seemed to have recovered some clarity as he used his remaining wing to cover and defend him.

Seeing that none of his attacks landed anymore Naruto backed off and prepared for his last attack. He created a horde of Kage Bunshins and ordered them to engage Sasuke until he was ready and then restrain him. The clones nodded and jumped towards Sasuke and used their numbers against him. Naruto sighed and held out his hand and grabbed his wrist and started concentrating. Soon a Rasengan formed in his hand but with a lot more power and speed. This was one of his modifications he had made on his father's technique. He had made that jutsu a few months ago but never had to use it in battle before so he wondered if it would work.

Sasuke suffered under the continuous battering the clones did on him; he couldn't attack as they were too many and his physical condition didn't allow him to take any more chances. The only thing he could do was block and evade while killing a clone here and there. He also couldn't see what the original Naruto was up to and that worried him greatly.

Naruto made a sign to his clones showing he was ready and they reacted accordingly. Sasuke felt how they grabbed him before they jumped in the air using the other clones as stepping stone. When they had jumped to their highest point the clones disappeared; he looked up only to look right into the sun. A figure became visible and he heard a loud shout of 'RYUUSEI RASENGAN'. Instinctively he brought the wing in front of him and a second later something impacted him with great force. He felt something drilling into his wing sending him back down an enormous speed while spinning like a top. He hit the water hard but it didn't stop there, he was being pushed towards the bottom so hard that the water parted around him. Sasuke impacted the bottom floor of the lake with tremendous force and a crater appeared. When he finally reached the bottom the excess water hit him as well.

Naruto watched as his clones had brought Sasuke to their highest point and stretched his arm with the Rasengan as far back as he could. He brought his arm forward with all his remaining strength in his body making a wide movement before throwing the Rasengan at Sasuke. He watched as Sasuke was drilled through the water before impacting on the bottom. Sasuke wasn't the only one to feel the damage of the jutsu as Naruto was sure that he had torn about every muscle in body by that last movement. He fell down on the water but managed to stay afloat but instantly fell down on his knees breathing deeply and in a lot of pain. He saw that Sasuke was unconscious went he floated to the surface so he walked towards him and pulled him out of the water so he wouldn't drown. With much difficulty he reached the rocks on the foot of the statues and collapsed in pain. He was sure that Sasuke wasn't going anywhere as he had reverted to his normal appearance; his chest showed some marks of being hit with the Rasengan but luckily it had only been superficial. He wasn't bleeding or anything so he was relieved that he hadn't killed the young Uchiha.

Naruto sat down and leaned against the wall and relaxed a bit. The fight had been more than he expected; Sasuke had proved to be a worthy opponent with lots of skills and he silently thanked his father for providing him with a Gravity seal. It had saved his life today and he planned to use it again in near future. That was worry for later as he knew that even with his healing powers he wouldn't be moving or training for a few days.

"Ah man Anko-chan is going to kill me." Naruto complained.

* * *

Kakashi was annoyed; his opponent was a lot more difficult to handle than he had thought. It wasn't that Kabuto was so much stronger than he was; in fact he personally believed he was stronger but Kabuto was obviously trained by Orochimaru that much was clear. The man had a knack for evading and retreating while fighting. In fact Kakashi would have to say that Kabuto was as slippery as a snake. During their fight Kabuto had constantly moved trying to get away from Kakashi; he didn't make any illusions why the traitor didn't want to fight him openly. It wasn't that he was afraid or anything but he simply didn't want to expose his skills so soon. Kakashi had been forced to use his Sharingan already and he was getting low on Chakra; he only had enough left for a few Jutsu or else he would be facing Chakra Exhaustion once more.

Kakashi was also worried about his students; they might be strong but they were only Genin after all. He cursed at how he had been too soft with Sasuke about all of this. If he had been firm and strict with the young Uchiha maybe all of this wouldn't have happened. On the other hand he wasn't really surprised with how Sasuke had reacted; for a while now he had been keeping an eye on him and over the past few months he had seen how Sasuke had become more and more distant and cold towards Konoha and his fellow shinobi. Still he had tried to involve Sasuke with the others and while training them he had hoped that Sasuke would somehow warm up to them but it was of no use. While the others were willing to give him a chance (though very reluctantly at the beginning) Sasuke seemed not to care about anything but getting stronger.

He turned back to the case at hand and focused on finding Kabuto once more; said one had used some kind of Fire Shunshin to get away from him once more. He quickly summoned Pakkun and asked him to help him to locate Kabuto. It didn't take long for Pakkun to find a trail and soon he was in chase of the Orochimaru's right hand. He jumped through the trees and hurried along trying to catch Kabuto before he managed to get to Sasuke and get away. The chase let him to the famous Valley of the End and he saw Kabuto jumped down from the top of the Shodaime's head. He wasted no time and followed him down to the water. He landed on the water and saw Kabuto advancing on Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto had been resting after he had defeated Sasuke and knew that he was an easy target if some enemy came around. He could barely move from the pain in his muscles and tendons so fighting was not an option. He had tried to summon a toad that might be able to transport them but even moving his arm was impossible at the moment. Sure his healing ability was helping with the recovery but it would still be some time before he could move. Suddenly a figure landed on the water and Naruto groaned when he recognized him as Kabuto; for a second he panicked and worried about Kakashi but he knew that Kakashi wouldn't be defeated so easily.

"Well, this is a surprise." Kabuto said. "You actually defeated Sasuke-kun even with a upgraded Cursed Seal. Quite impressive I must say." Kabuto said before picking up Sasuke and flinging him over his shoulder. "You're lucky Orochimaru-sama forbade me to kill you but he didn't say anything about ensuring that you wouldn't bother us anymore."

Naruto kept quiet and saw Kabuto concentrated some chakra in his hand. Just as Kabuto wanted to strike at him a Suiton jutsu made Kabuto jump out of the way to halfway the lake still with the unconscious Sasuke over his shoulder. Naruto looked up and saw Kakashi standing in front of him.

"Kakashi-sensei, thank god you're not late." Naruto said jokingly.

"Naruto, are you okay?" Kakashi said worrying about the blonde.

"I'm fine; I just can't move my body since I tore all my muscles." Naruto answered. "What about the others? Are they okay?"

"I don't know but I'm sure they're fine." Kakashi said confident still looking at Kabuto.

"And here I thought I finally got rid of you Hatake Kakashi." Kabuto said smiling. "Well, hope you don't mind but we've got to go. Oh and Naruto-kun; get strong because I think Sasuke-kun here will want his revenge on you some day." Kabuto and Sasuke then disappeared with the same Fire Shunshin that he had used before leaving the two Konoha shinobi alone. Kakashi sighed and slipped his headband over his Sharingan and collapsed next to Naruto; his body finally giving out after the constant use of Chakra.

* * *

Well, that's it; how was it? I tried to make it a believable fight and not make it too over the top. Some authors come up with amazing fight scenes but sometimes they go too far in their efforts making it a tad too much. Like I said above I'm definitely not satisfied with Kakashi's fight so I decided to skip it all together and just pick up after Kabuto fled from Kakashi. I know some fans of Kakashi will be disappointed but I just couldn't make it work. Kabuto is one of those characters we haven't seen in action all that much making it very hard to write a fight scene for him.

Anyway see you all for the next chapter.


	40. Chapter 40: Aftermath and saying goodbye

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome to chapter 40 of this story. Can you believe it has been just over a year since I started this story. Actually last week it was exactly a year since I posted the first chapter and since then I have received over 650 000 hits and over 1400 reviews. I would never have thought that this would happen and I can't help but thank each and everyone who has read my story for this. So THANK YOU VERY MUCH and I hope I'll be able to bring a good story for a second year as well.

This chapter deals with the aftermath of Sasuke's defection to Orochimaru and how he prepares to leave with Jiraiya for his training trip. I tried not to focus too much on how everyone felt on Sasuke's betrayal since we all know how they would have reacted personally. Maybe I'll bring it up in the next few chapter or in a small flashback later on. Now however I'm focusing on Naruto's training trip and I have a few story lines ready that I want to explore and uses. I'm guessing that the next three years will be handled in about 5 or 6 chapters as I don't want to focus endlessly on his training; merely an overview of what he will learn and some missions or adventures. I'm also debating if I should write a few chapter about the gang left in Konoha but if I do that then I'll have to think of things to write about as well.

Anyway happy reading and tell me how I did.

* * *

Chapter 40: Aftermath and saying goodbye

It had been two days since Sasuke had betrayed Konoha and when the news hit the village a lot of people were shocked that he would do such a thing. Nobody had ever suspected that the last Uchiha would betray the village for power but what surprised them the most was that he left to go to Orochimaru. People still remembered the invasion several months earlier and how scared they had been when their home was attacked out of the blue.

For Naruto and his friends it had been a stressful two days; first of all they were submitted to various test to see if they were alright. In the end they all had been lucky; Hinata and Sakura only had a mild form of chakra exhaustion just like Kakashi, Shino was mostly alright and the wounds he had suffered weren't that serious, Kiba and Akamaru had to spend a day in hospital but were released the next day. Naruto however would have to spend an extra day in hospital to make sure his muscles and tendons were completely healed. It wasn't that bad and he could have rested at home but Anko had forced him to stay as punishment for releasing the Gravity seal. She had ripped Naruto a new one when she had found him a few minutes after Kabuto had left; when she saw him lying there she had feared the worst but she relaxed when he tentatively waved at her from afar.

Then came the constant questioning and reports they had to fill in about what had happened. This however had been very interesting and a lot of Jounin and upper level Shinobi had been present to hear about the fights. The five of them had instantly gained a lot of notoriety by defeating four of Orochimaru's strongest known shinobi. Also Tsunade and Sarutobi had congratulated and thanked them on presenting them with the bodies so that they could research them. Already the autopsy team had discovered some very fascinating facts about the Cursed Seal and the abilities of the dead Oto-Nins.

Right now however Naruto was patiently waiting for the doctor so he could get the hell out of the hospital. He hated being here even when all his friends came to visit him. It wasn't so much the hospital but it was the fact that he had to stay still for hours on end. For someone as energetic as him this proved to be quite a challenge. Anko was having the time of her life just teasing him and taunting him but he would get back to her he would make sure of that.

"So Naru-kun are you ready?" Anko said smiling.

"You bet I am." Naruto muttered. "I hate this place."

Finally an hour later the doctor had cleared him healthy enough so he grabbed Anko and jumped out the window while carrying her. He let out a loud yell of joy and hurried home. Anko laughed and snuggled into his chest happy that her lover had survived the fight without serious injuries. Naruto slammed open the door of their house and put Anko down on the couch. She had other plans though and she pulled him down with her before pressing her lips to his. Naruto didn't object one bit and eagerly kissed her back. After breaking the kiss Anko held him tight and relaxed while resting her head on his chest.

"That Uchiha better pray I never see him again." Anko said softly.

"Don't worry Anko-chan; I'm fine." Naruto reassured her. "Besides I doubt he'll be able to do anything for quite a while."

"Yeah, still he endangered everyone of you guys." She answered.

"Let's not talk about him okay?" Naruto said running his fingers through her hair knowing that always calmed her down.

"You're right. I can think of better things to do." She said winking at him before pressing her body against his. Naruto groaned as he felt her breasts against his chest and he blushed a bit. Anko loved it when he did this; even after all these months she still could make him blush. They would have continued if it wasn't for a soft giggle that they heard from the kitchen. Both their heads snapped up recognizing that little giggle from miles away. They looked at each other swiftly and jumped out and into the kitchen; Anko grabbed a kunai form somewhere and threw it straight ahead while Naruto made several clones.

Jiraiya who had only returned to Konoha a few hours ago had gone straight to his apprentice's home after reporting to Tsunade and Sandaime. When he arrived he saw Naruto and Anko entering the house and he silently moved to the back and used his skill to open the backdoor before sneaking inside. He grinned when he saw the two of them kissing and took out his notebook. The gaki and his sexy girlfriend were prize material and he would have to be stupid to let this chance go by. He scribbled as inspiration hit him while mentally encouraging Naruto; he felt pretty proud of his godson for having such a good looking lover. Unfortunately for him he let out a small giggle and he knew this wouldn't end well for him. His fears were confirmed when a kunai passed by him and embedded itself in the wall just next to him. That and the clones meant bad news for Konoha's resident super pervert.

Anko dragged Jiraiya outside by the hair and brutally beat on him for a good half hour. Shouts of "Please not there" and "Oh god the pain" could be heard to the other side of the village and when Tsunade was alerted of the screams she laughed. She wasn't the only one who laughed, as a lot of women had encountered the pervert during their time at the hotsprings and they all recognized the voice that sounded through the village.

"That will teach him to spy on Anko and the brat." She laughed loudly.

Naruto looked on as Anko unleashed her fury upon the pervert and he had to admit that even he started to feel sorry for the man. Being kicked over and over again like that in that sensitive region couldn't be good. Nonetheless he didn't stop her as Jiraiya had been warned many times not to spy on them before. Naruto guessed it was only a matter of time before the pervert couldn't control his urges and then the shit would hit the fan. Today was that day and boy it hit the fan good. Anko seemed to slow down the kicks before stopping completely; she grabbed Jiraiya by the scruff of his neck and held him at eyelevel.

"Now you listen here pervert." Anko snarled at him. "If you ever spy on us again I'm going to use the most blunt kunai I can find and then I'm going to cut them off. After that I'm going to summon the biggest, meanest snake and shove it so far up your rear-end that you'll be able to feel it's tongue in the back of your throat." Anko threatened him; Jiraiya didn't seem capable of answering so she just let him go smiling as he fell down on the ground holding his family jewels. Anko then turned to Naruto, kissed him and skipped back to the house happy as can be. Naruto looked at Jiraiya who managed to raise his arm and put his thumb up before saying "Worth it".

"You truly are a super pervert." Naruto said shaking his head. "To take such risks just for a little inspiration."

"All in a day's work for an awesome writer like me." Jiraiya said before jumped to his feet. "Though your girlfriend packs quite a bit of power. If I was an ordinary man I would have succumbed long ago."

"So what brings you here."Naruto asked his godfather. "And don't say to spy on you two."

"Well, no I actually came over to see you both." Jiraiya said while wiping the dust of his clothes. "I managed to arrange everything for our training trip; much earlier than planned too."

"About two months earlier." Naruto frowned as Anko wasn't going to like that he left two months earlier than planned. "So I guess we're leaving as soon as possible?"

"Wow, hold your horses there Gaki." Jiraiya said quickly. "Just because I'm back doesn't mean we're leaving right away. No, I think that if we left in two or three weeks would be good enough. I know I said six months but I found out a few things that caught my attention so I came back."

"What did you find out?" Naruto asked interested.

"Well, I found out that Orochimaru was forced to changes bodies again." Jiraiya said knowing that this would interest Naruto. "You know how he showed Sensei during their fight how he had changed to a younger body. Well, apparently this jutsu forces him to change bodies every three year and that combined with the injuries you gave him on his arms he didn't have a choice."

"So he has a new body now?" Naruto asked.

"Also Tsunade told me what happened with the Uchiha." Jiraiya nodded. "Can't say I'm surprised as you told me how obsessed he was with getting stronger. However I fear that Orochimaru is only planning to train his future body."

"You mean Orochimaru wants to use Sasuke as a vessel?" Naruto said shocked. "That can't be good."

"It's not; in fact Orochimaru gaining the Sharingan is something we should prevent at all costs." Jiraiya agreed. "He has always been clear about how much he wanted the Sharingan Kekkei Genkai. That combined with his desire to learn every Jutsu in the world could give us a lot of problems on top of Akatsuki."

"Damn, I should have stopped him while I had the chance." Naruto said angry.

"Don't blame yourself Gaki." Jiraiya said softly. "I heard what happened and you did well. You couldn't have known that Kabuto would take Sasuke away after you defeated him. By the way how are your wounds?"

"I'm fine; the only thing that's bad is that now I have to wait a bit before I can reapply the gravity seal again." Naruto sighed. "Dad made it that way; it's effectiveness is that it adjust while wearing but once you release it you have to wait until your body is fully adjusted to the new speed and power. Which takes a while and that's why I didn't release the seal until now; I never had to use it before."

"Yeah I remember that seal." Jiraiya said chuckling. "Your father called it 'a pain in the ass of universal proportions' while creating it. Still it's one of the most reliable and advanced seals he created."

"Anyway, want to come in?" Naruto said inviting the man inside.

"Nah, it think it wouldn't be safe for me right now." Jiraiya said looking at the house. "Anko might hit me some more; I'll come by tomorrow to talk to both of you."

"Suit yourself." Naruto said before going back inside.

* * *

The next morning everyone assembled for the usual training they had done for the last four months now. All the Jounin sensei were there and to Naruto's surprise a healed Lee was there as well. He immediately went over and asked him how he was doing. Naruto was glad that the Taijutsu using Genin was out of the hospital and obviously cured.

"I'm okay, Naruto-kun." Lee said smiling. "Tsunade-sama managed to heal me so now I can start training again. I'm not allowed to train extensively just yet but I can do some light exercises to regain some of my mobility and strength."

"That's great news Lee." Naruto said happy for his friend. "You'll be back to your old level in no time."

Of course the topic of Sasuke's defection had come up several times and those who had fought had to tell about facing the Oto-Nins once more. Those who hadn't heard about it yet were stunned that something like that was possible but in the end they had no choice but to believe what they heard. Most of them were mad at Sasuke for betraying Konoha like that and vowed to teach him a lesson if they ever encountered him.

"Alright everyone; gather around." Kakashi ordered. "I'm sure you all heard about what happened a few days ago so I won't waste too much words on that topic. I will however say that we understand how betrayed you all must feel; sadly this isn't the first time a Konoha shinobi does this. Sasuke left so he could pursue his foolish goals of revenge; I wished that he would have stayed and forgot about his quest for power but that was a mistake."

"Kakashi-sensei, what will happen now?" Kiba asked him.

"Well, Sasuke will be added to the Bingo book as a Missing-Nin but since he's with Orochimaru none of our Hunter-Nin will actively search for him." Kakashi explained. "That doesn't mean that we will just let him go like that but we'll have to wait for an opportune moment."

None of the Genin asked why no Hunter-Nin would search for the missing Uchiha as all of them knew just who Orochimaru was. Going against one of the Legendary Sannin was just stupid; even with a partner they wouldn't stand a chance. Then there was the fact that nobody exactly knew where Orochimaru could be found so they would lose more time and resources for nothing.

"Sasuke has left and there's nothing we can do about it for the moment." Kakashi continued. "So we'll concentrate on what we've been doing all along; training to defend Konoha and those who live here. Alright split up in your usual groups and start training."

The Genin didn't waste time and started their exercises with Gai or Kurenai before switching two hours later. After that they had Ninjutsu training with Kakashi and Taijutsu training with Gai and Asuma. While they were doing that an Anbu arrived and passed a message that Naruto was wanted by the Hokage in her office. Naruto nodded and excused himself from training and sped to the Hokage Tower where he was immediately greeted by Shizune who was waiting for him.

"Hey Naruto-kun, how are you feeling?" Shizune asked him.

"I'm feeling great Shizune-neechan." Naruto assured her. "Luckily I heal fast otherwise I would still be going crazy in that hospital room."

"Well, Tsunade-sama is waiting for you." Shizune said opening the door for him.

Naruto thanked her and went inside the office. Inside he saw Tsunade, Jiraiya and Sandaime waiting for him and after greeting them he sat down in the chair. After the usual small talk about his health and how he and Anko were doing, Tsunade came to the point.

"Gaki, the pervert here said he will be ready to leave in three weeks." Tsunade said. "I know it's a bit earlier than expected but your training trips will start in three weeks."

"That's okay Baa-chan." Naruto said earning a glare from the woman in front of him. "Anko-chan and I talked about it last night and decided that it can't be helped. I'll be ready to leave in three weeks."

"Good; seeing that you only have three weeks left I pulled you off active duty meaning you want have any missions or duties till then." Tsunade said nodding. "Spend that time with Anko as I'm sure she will miss you greatly once you're gone."

"Don't worry; I planned to do that anyway." Naruto said.

"The pervert here refuses to tell what he has planned for you so I wish you good luck." Tsunade glared at Jiraiya. All she wanted was to have an idea on what Jiraiya would teach Naruto but he stubbornly refused to tell her anything.

"Now Tsunade-hime, ask me no questions and I shall tell you no lies." Jiraiya grinned. "Besides, it's better you don't know where we're headed or what've planned so you can honestly tell anyone who asks that you don't know."

"Whatever; just teach him well and bring him back safely." Tsunade sighed dropping the point. "And you better not come back a pervert, is that understood?" she said to Naruto.

"Don't worry about that Baachan. He won't manage to corrupt me." Naruto confidently said smirking at Jiraiya who seemed to disagree but he refrained from saying anything with Tsunade around.

Naruto was dismissed and returned to the training field as he didn't lose that much time. When he arrived he went straight to Kurenai and the rest of the Jounin Sensei to inform them of the news. Kurenai took it well but still said she would miss him very much and that the team wouldn't be the same without him. Anko however reacted a bit more emotional and grabbed Naruto in a fierce hug refusing to let him go. Even though she had expected this she still found it unfair that Naruto would leave sooner.

"I don't want you to go." She said softly.

"Anko-chan, I don't want to leave you either but it's out of our hands now." Naruto said while holding her. "We knew this was coming and we agreed to it in the first place."

"I changed my mind." She protested.

"You know that's not possible." Naruto chuckled at Anko. "Everything is going to be fine. I'll be back before you know it and when I'm back I'll be all yours again."

Anko sniffled a bit but nodded slightly. Naruto sighed and told Kurenai that they were going home since he needed some time to reassure Anko. Kurenai smiled at him and nodded saying that he was right and that she would see them the next day for training. They left the training ground without anyone else noticing and returned home. Once they were home Naruto and Anko went to the garden and sat on the bench where so many years ago his parents had sat. They didn't talk but just held each other knowing that no words needed to be spoken for now.

"You won't forget about me will you?" Anko asked him after a while.

"Is that what this is about? You're scared that I might forget about you?" Naruto asked surprised.

"It's possible isn't it? Three years is a long time." Anko argued.

"Anko-chan listen to me." Naruto said while lifting her head up by placing his hand under her chin. "You are the only woman I could ever love; there isn't anyone else in the world I would rather spend the rest of my live with. I promise you that nothing or nobody will be able to change that."

"I love you so much, Naruto-kun." Anko said before placing her lips on his and kissed him soundly.

"I love you too Anko-chan." Naruto said when he broke the kiss. "When I get back I will ask you to marry me, that's a promise."

"I already know the answer to that question." Anko said smiling brightly. "But I guess you'll have to wait until you get back to hear it."

Naruto laughed and held her close once more and together they watched as the sun went under and stayed outside for a very long time. When Naruto noticed that Anko had fallen asleep he gently took her in his arms and carried her upstairs so she could sleep in their comfortable bed. Naruto however stayed awake a bit longer just looking at her peaceful form and thanked whatever god there was out there for giving him the love of his life.

* * *

WARNING: SMALL LEMON

* * *

Anko woke up the next morning not remembering when she went to bed; she felt someone holding her and turned her head only to see the sleeping face of her lover. She smiled softly and turned her body around so she could snuggle closer to his. The warmth of his body was so addictive and his scent was intoxicating to her. There was nothing that she loved more than to wake up next to Naruto and her smile faded when she remembered that he would leave soon. For three long years she wouldn't have him beside her while she slept; she honestly didn't know how she would cope. She knew that the next few weeks would be hard on her and Naruto; leaving your loved one behind wasn't easy after all.

She put her head on his chest and listened to the sounds of his heartbeat; this always calmed her down when she did this. Her hand rested on his stomach and she touched him feeling his skin; no matter what the season Naruto always slept without a shirt on. She too enjoyed sleeping without clothes on; the feeling of skin to skin was something she enjoyed immensely. Naruto shifted and mumbled something but she didn't understand what he said. She chuckled a bit at seeing this but managed to keep quiet so she wouldn't wake him up just yet.

Five minutes later however Naruto's eyes fluttered open and he slowly woke up. He felt a weight on his chest and saw Anko looking at him; he smiled at her and she just held him wanting him to hold her as well. Naruto recognizing what she wanted didn't protest and put his arms around her and pulled her close. Anko sighed in contentment and she kissed his chest while he responded by kissing her hair as her head was just at the right height. Suddenly she jumped up and sat on his stomach surprising him; she reached down and kissed him soundly on the lips. Naruto protested a bit since he hadn't brushed his teeth yet but Anko didn't seem to care. Her kisses went from sweet and soft to passionate and demanding very fast and Naruto had no choice but to react as well. He met her enthusiasm and soon she was kissing his neck which drove him almost insane and she knew it. Her hands roamed over his body and he shivered when she trailed his stomach with her finger; she was really good at getting him fired up.

Not wanting to let Anko be the only one who had her fun his hands moved from her back to her sides where he too moved his finger over the sensitive skin making her jump a little. His hands soon moved to her stomach before touching the skin just below her breasts. If she wanted to tease him he could return the favor he thought. She growled slightly when his hands refused to move upwards to where she wanted them to be. Naruto smiled before flipping her over so he would be on top this time; Anko smiled at him and didn't protest when he kissed her before nibbling on her earlobe. She loved it when he did that so her vocal agreement only encouraged Naruto to continue. He continued his kisses while slowly making his way to her neck and collarbone which he knew was a sensitive spot for her.

He felt Anko's hands in his hair slowly guiding him to where she wanted him next; so it came to no surprise when he found himself between her breasts where he continued to kiss her soft skin. Going a little further he flipped his tongue and she reacted immediately. Naruto didn't stop however and his hands slowly make their way up from her sides to her breasts and gently touched them before giving them a loving squeeze. Anko groaned in pleasure and urged him to continue but Naruto wasn't in any hurry what so ever. He raised his head so he could kiss her breasts all while gently squeezing them to Anko's pleasure. She was breathing deeply and she let out a moan when he stuck out his tongue and licked her nipple. He gently sucked on it earning another moan before pinching the other nipple with his hand.

Anko was enjoying her lover's actions and she wanted more; she needed more. She pulled his head up and kissed him hard while Naruto's hands took care of the rest. She really needed him right now and feeling from Naruto's lower section he needed her just as much. She let go of his head and one hand snaked down to his boxers before she rubbed the bulge. Naruto moaned in the kiss and that only made her wanting him more. Before she could slip her hand inside his boxers however the alarm went off making them both curse in displeasure of having to stop in the middle of their lovemaking. They didn't have a choice however as Jiraiya would be passing by for breakfast. Frustrated Anko and Naruto looked at each other before accepting the fact that the rest would have to wait until later; neither of them wanted to stop what they were doing but they definitely didn't want the pervert to drop in on them while doing the deed.

Naruto crawled off Anko and got up so he could take a shower; he looked at Anko once more before hurrying to the bathroom. He needed an ice-cold shower that was sure. Anko stayed in the bedroom knowing that if she joined him in the bathroom she wouldn't be able to control herself. Ten minutes later a shivering Naruto entered the room and she smiled lovingly at him before standing up and went over to him. Naruto took out a fresh pair of clothes out of the closet and turned around only to have Anko grab him. She kissed him while grinding her body against his making both of them moan.

"Tonight you're mine." Anko said when she let go of him.

* * *

END LEMON

* * *

Naruto dumbly nodded and watched as she left the bedroom while shaking her hips in a very provocative way. Really, did she not see how much trouble he had just controlling himself? Did she really have to move in such a way? He shook his head and went downstairs; Ero-Sennin could be here any minute so he didn't have any time to waste. He set the table and started on making breakfast; he had gotten quite good at preparing food during their time in the Forest of Death so he didn't mind to cook. Anko came down ten minutes later smiling and thanked him for preparing the food. She had just sat down before a knock on the door could be heard. Naruto opened up and invited Jiraiya inside.

"Morning Gaki, Anko." Jiraiya greeted them.

"Morning to you too Ero-Sennin." Naruto said smiling. "I made you some breakfast as well."

"Thanks Gaki, I'm starving." Jiraiya said before digging in.

"So what did you want to discuss?" Anko said wondering why the man needed to see them this early.

"Actually I came to see you Anko." Jiraiya said seriously. "I'm sure that you understand what is going on but I wanted to warn you about Akatsuki."

"Me? What use do I have for them?" Anko said although she could imagine what he meant.

"Your relationship with Naruto isn't exactly a secret so when the time comes they might decide to use you to lure Naruto." Jiraiya said. "And they're not the only ones you should be worried about; I'm pretty sure that when Iwa hears about Naruto being their greatest foe's son they will investigate."

"Yeah, I know; I've thought about it more than once." Anko admitted. "But don't worry about it; I already prepared to train extra hard as well for the next three years. I can't let loverboy here be the only one who gets stronger." She said while pointing to Naruto.

"Glad to see you agree." Jiraiya said nodding. "You're a strong woman Anko but you could become even stronger. You have the potential to become one of the best so don't waste it."

"So Ero-Sennin, what kind of training will we be doing?" Naruto asked him.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you a little bit about it." Jiraiya said smiling. "Naruto, while I have no doubt that you'll get much stronger over the next three years, beating S-Ranked Nukenin on your own will be hard. That's why we need to train smart; when it comes to fighting stronger opponents you need two things. More stamina, speed and Chakra; I'm sure you understand why."

"Stamina and speed to last long enough to get away or to outlast the opponent's and more chakra so I can fight longer using strong techniques?" Naruto said thinking a bit about it.

"That's right; you already have a large amount of all three of them but to fight evenly with opponents that are much more experienced and stronger you'll need to improve on these." Jiraiya said nodding. "That's why we'll focus on those points at first. When I'm satisfied with your progress I'll start teaching you my techniques and secrets of being a Toad Summoner."

"Can I study other things on my own time?" Naruto asked again.

"You mean like seals and creating new Jutsu?" Jiraiya knowingly asked to which Naruto nodded. "Of course you can work on your own stuff once training is over for the day. But remember I'm not only going to train you but I'm also going to teach you how to manage my spy-network and everything that comes with it. Don't underestimate this Naruto, you'll soon see how demanding this is."

"But Ero-Sennin, how can I manage you spy-network if I'm Hokage? I can't leave the village like you do." Naruto protested lightly.

"I'm sure you'll come up with a way." Jiraiya laughed clapping Naruto on the back. "I suggest you do the same training Anko; I truly think you could be one of the strongest kunoichi that ever lived. Besides the future wife of the future Hokage can't be weak now can she?"

"Like I said; don't worry about me." Anko shrugged. "I'll make sure that I won't be a burden for Naruto."

"Anko-chan, how can you say that?" Naruto yelled. "You're never were or ever will be a burden to me. On the contrary, you're the one who inspires and motivates me every day."

Anko smiled at Naruto and put her hand on his before thanking him for his kind words. She also apologized for thinking like that and promised to never do it again. Naruto accepted her apology and gave her a quick kiss. They broke the kiss when Jiraiya started laughing loudly and asked him what he was laughing about.

"It's just that the two of you remind me so much of your parents." Jiraiya said with a smile. "You're all so alike; they would be proud of you two."

"Thanks Jiraiya; that means a lot to me." Anko said softly. Naruto looked at the pictures of his parents and smiled; to hear that from the man who had known his father better than anyone made him feel very happy.

They continued talking for a bit longer before Anko and Naruto had to leave for training. Jiraiya accompanied them wanting to see what they did during those trainings. When they arrived at the training grounds everyone else was already there. Jiraiya was met with a lot of respect from the Jounin sensei except Kurenai who was respectful but wary of the perverted side of the man. The Genin however flocked to Naruto who had to explain that he would leave a month earlier than expected.

"So you leave in three weeks then?" Hinata asked him.

"Yep; Ero-Sennin managed to prepare everything in less time than he had thought." Naruto said. "Oh come on, no need to look all sad or anything. We still have three weeks to spend together and I'll be back before you know it."

"Still isn't going to be the same without you." Kiba said sadly. "Who's going to be my rival now?"

"I'll make you a promise Kiba; when I get back in three years you and I are going to fight." Naruto said. "So you better train your ass off otherwise I'm going to kick it."

"YOSH, NARUTO-KUN IS RIGHT!" Lee exclaimed loudly. "I TOO SHALL WORK HARD AND FIGHT NARUTO-KUN WHEN HE GETS BACK. IF I CAN'T WIN THEN I WILL DO A THOUSAND LAPS AROUND KONOHA ON MY HANDS AND IF I CAN'T DO THAT THEN I'LL…." Lee's voice was muffled because TenTen put her hands over his mouth saying that they got the point.

"That's fine Lee but you'll have to get better first." Naruto laughed.

Lee immediately wanted to shout out that he was going to get better very fast but TenTen had a firm hold on him and refused to move her hand. The others all laughed at how Lee was trying to get TenTen of his back but didn't succeed. The Jounin Sensei who had been watching then called them to attention and they ordered them to start their usual exercises. Jiraiya watched how Gai pushed them to the limit with his physical training focused on stamina and strength building. When they finally completed their regimen Kakashi took his group and started to work on the jutsu they had been learning so far. They all had to show that they mastered the Jutsu before they would be allowed learning another one. After that he looked at how Kurenai taught them about Genjutsu and he immediately noticed that Naruto had no talent what so ever for the art of Genjutsu; this was something he would have to remember he realized. It wouldn't do if Naruto was unable to detect or break a Genjutsu. Luckily Naruto seemed to have the basics down thanks to learning from Kurenai so he wasn't all that worried.

Then came the sparring; here everyone had some matches between the Genin before a team was decided who had to fight a Jounin Sensei. He agreed that this was a valuable exercise as it gave them experience against a stronger enemy and it showed them that no matter how strong they had gotten they weren't there quite yet. The Genin showed impressive teamwork when it was needed and that was something he readily applauded.

Soon training was over and he bid his goodbye's saying he had to prepare for the long training trip ahead. The Genin laughed loudly when Naruto said that he was probably going to the hotsprings to peek making Jiraiya yell at him for disrespecting his elders and teacher.

"Really Naruto, you should show more respect for Jiraiya-sama." Sakura and Ino said to him.

"Yeah I wonder if you'd say the same thing after he spied on you and your boyfriend." Anko snorted. "Damn pervert."

"He did that?" both girls asked shocked. "What did you do when you caught him?"

"Didn't you hear the screams of pain two days ago?" Kurenai said chuckling.

"That was Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura laughed. "I thought someone was slaughtering a pig or something."

"Anko-chan threatened to cut them off and shove a snake up his behind." Naruto laughed remembering Jiraiya's face when she said that.

They all laughed loudly at that and when Anko said that she meant every word of it they pitied the fool who spied on her and Naruto again. Seeing that training was over for the day the kids went to get some lunch and promised to meet at the training grounds in half an hour so they could spend some time together.

* * *

A few days later Naruto started making a list of items he needed to pack so he gathered all his equipment in the garden and fetched several empty storage scrolls from his office. He went over his equipment and counted a hundred standard Kunai and Shuriken which he sealed into scroll before marking it. Putting it aside he put all of his throwing knives he still had in front of him and counted 32 of them; nodding he sealed them as well.

Next were the tags he had made over the past few months; he had explosive tags of different magnitude ranging from small to extremely big explosion, he also had his newly created flash-tags and sealed most of them as well. He also made sure his pouch and holster were equipped with everything. Finally he stored several sets of clothes into his last scroll so he wouldn't have to worry about running out of clean clothes.

He grabbed the scrolls and went inside his office and placed them on his desk. He looked at the selves full of Jutsu scrolls and realized that he couldn't take them all with him; frowning at the thought he created four Kage Bunshins and ordered them to search through the scrolls for Jutsus that might come in handy and told them to put them in a pile in the middle of the room while he went to the store in search of a bigger scroll. There were different sizes of scrolls available to shinobi ranging from the normal size to the size of scroll that Jiraiya carried around on his back. Those scrolls were made for writing down a lot of information or containing a lot of supplies.

"Hideki-san, are you there?" Naruto called out once he entered the shop.

"Ah Naruto-kun, good to see you again. How have you been?" Hideki asked the blonde.

"It's good to see you to sir." Naruto said greeting the man who had helped him so much in the past. "I'm looking for a large scroll for writing down techniques."

"I might have what you're looking for." Hideki said stepping from behind the counter. He came back a minute later while holding a large scroll in his hands. "Is this what you want?"

"That's exactly what I needed but I need something to carry it around." Naruto nodded. "Also it can't interfere when I use my sword."

"Hmmm, let's see what I have for that." Hideki said as he understood what Naruto wanted. "Aha, found it."

Naruto watched as Hideki slipped the large scroll inside a strap that went over his shoulder. The scroll would be held diagonally across his back leaving enough room for Naruto to pull his sword without being bothered by the scroll. He tried it on just to make sure but it fitted perfectly and it was easily removable thanks to a clicking device that connect both ends of the strap. That way it could be removed when in a fight or needed without losing too much time. He stayed a bit to talk with Hideki as it had been some time since they last saw each other. When he finally left Hideki wished him a good trip and told him that he believed in him.

When Naruto got home the clones had pilfered through the stash of Jutsu scroll and had selected those that interested them most. Naruto looked and groaned when he saw about fifty different scroll in the pile. He sighed and took out his writing materials before unraveling the large scroll; he took the first scroll and started copying the information onto his new scroll. He was glad he had thought of doing this now instead of having to hurry in the last week. Now he could do this on a much slower pace whenever he had a little time.

* * *

During the following two week Anko and Naruto were couldn't be found without the other; they spend every minute together. Anko even asked to be pulled off duty so she could be with him; Tsunade hadn't been happy but she understood so agreed to Anko's request. They still showed up for trainings and hanged out with the rest but as soon as evening fell they returned home to be alone. Anko was having a very rough time so Naruto had asked Kurenai to take care of her when he was gone. Of course Kurenai agreed immediately saying that he didn't have to worry as she would take care of his girlfriend.

Now the moment of departure had finally arrived and Naruto and Anko walked in silence to the gate where Jiraiya would be waiting for him. They didn't speak as everything had been said the night before; they just held hands. When they arrived at the gate everyone was there wanting to see Naruto off. All of the Jounin sensei were there with their teams and even Tsunade and Shizune were smiling at him while Sarutobi was puffing away on his pipe.

"Hey guys, what are you all doing here?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Baka, like we would let you leave without saying goodbye." Kiba said smiling sadly.

"That's right Naruto; everyone here came to wish you a safe trip." Sandaime said to him.

"Thanks everyone; I entrust the safety of Konoha with all of you okay?" Naruto said emotionally.

"Hah, like we need you to defend our village." Kiba said laughing. "You better get strong Naruto otherwise I'll kick your ass."

"Don't worry about that Kiba." Naruto said smiling. "You all had better be Chuunin or higher when I get back."

"Brat, you better get back safely and strong enough to deal with Konoha's enemies otherwise I'm going to hurt you." Tsunade said before giving him a hug.

"Don't worry Baa-chan." Naruto said and for once Tsunade ignored the barb to her age. "You better get ready to retire when I come back because I'll be taking that hat soon enough."

"I look forward to it." Tsunade nodded.

"Naruto, let's go." Jiraiya called out. "We have a long trip ahead of us."

"Be right there Ero-Sennin." Naruto yelled back before turning to Anko who had tears in her eyes. He stepped forward and pulled her in a big hug. "Anko-chan, I love you so much. Promise me you'll take care of yourself and the village." He then kissed her with all the love he could muster.

"I promise. I love you too Naruto-kun. You better come back to me safe and sound." Anko managed to say.

"I love you future wife of the Hokage." Naruto said smilng at her.

"And I love you future Hokage." Anko said before kissing him one last time.

Naruto nodded and turned around but not before mouthing 'Take care of her' to everyone. They all nodded saying that they would do exactly that and they waved as he ran to join up with Jiraiya. Kurenai pulled Anko in a hug where she started crying softly but everyone pretended not to notice. They all watched as the two figures walked away from the village into the sunrise; soon their figures had disappeared behind the horizon and they all wished him a safe trip once more before returning to their homes. Only Sandaime stayed but he looked at the Hokage monument.

"Your son is one of a kind Minato." Sandaime smiled. "He has changed the hearts of so many and proved himself worthy in the eyes of almost everyone in the village. You and Kushina would be so proud of him I'm sure of it. Watch over him, my friend."

* * *

Well, that's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and let me know how I did. See you all in two weeks for the next chapter which will start Naruto's training with Jiraiya.


	41. Chapter 41: Start of a journey into lege

I don't own Naruto.

Hey everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. I hope everyone had a good two weeks and that life is treating you good. I can't complain about anything so far in my life so that's a very good thing. Thanks to everyone for the kind reviews, I really appreciate them.

This chapter marks the beginning of Naruto's training and I'll try to make it fun and enjoyable to read. I won't focus on how he trains everyday or what jutsu he learns but I'll try to bring some chapters were Naruto and Jiraiya go through some adventures and how Naruto gets stronger because of them. Don't worry about this training trip taking dozens of chapters because it won't. In all I think there will be about four or five chapters in total before we take a timeskip. I'm even thinking of putting some small timeskips in the chapters as well otherwise it will take way to long.

* * *

SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU READ THE MANGA

On a sidenote I would like to know what people think about what has happened in the chapter of the manga this week. How do you feel about it? Frankly I admire Kishimoto for what he did; it takes a lot of courage to do what he did. Although we don't exactly know if said person will survive or not (though I expect she will) it will certainly raise a lot of protest and discussion amongst the writers and readers of fanfiction. Personally I think this event brings a lot of realism into the manga; there was bound to be a death amongst the rookies sooner or later and what better way to go than to protect a loved one? Anyway those of you who want to say something about it let me know.

* * *

Chapter 41: The start of a journey into legend

Naruto and Jiraiya had been travelling for a week now and Naruto had to say that while sometimes irritating the pervert was good company. During their time on the road mornings were spend by training and sparring while afternoons were used to travel from village to village. Naruto's training in the morning started with stretching and warm-up exercises before he started on the more serious stuff like running, sit-ups, push-up and many more. After a few hours of conditioning training Jiraiya make a Kage Bunshin and ordered Naruto to do the same. Then Jiraiya's clone would fight the real Naruto while the real Jiraiya and Naruto's clone watched from the side. The meaning of this was that Naruto would then receive the memory from the clone and he could analyze his fight afterwards. Jiraiya did the same and helped Naruto adjust were necessary.

After lunch (mostly made by Naruto) Jiraiya told him stories about his past like how he got to meet Tsunade and Orochimaru when they were sorted in the same Genin team. Naruto enjoyed these stories because Jiraiya was a great story teller; it was almost like Naruto was inside the story. It also helped Naruto in getting to know the pervert that was his godfather a lot better; he was surprised that one of the Legendary Sannin was once a goof just like him without any special Kekkei Genkai or considered a genius from birth. Naruto especially liked the stories where Jiraiya and Sandaime-jiji went peeking together only to get caught. It provided with an endless amount of laughter as neither of them seemed to learn from their mistakes.

"So Ero-Sennin, where exactly are we headed?" Naruto asked one afternoon.

"Don't call me that." Jiraiya said bopping Naruto on the head. "And for your information where headed to the town of Mihara where we will spend a few months."

"We'll be staying in a town?" Naruto asked surprised. "What if someone recognizes us? Wouldn't that give away our location to Akatsuki?"

"Don't worry about it Gaki." Jiraiya said. "You make a good point but Mihara is special in that case."

Naruto asked why the town was special but Jiraiya refused to answer saying that it would ruin the surprise for him so Naruto occupied himself by thinking about what Jutsu he would learn later that week. So far he hadn't been able to work on anything as Jiraiya said that practicing Jutsu in a widely populated area was frowned upon. Also they didn't want to draw attention so close to Konoha anyway. The town of Mihara was about 2 weeks travel away from Konoha so that was more secure.

When they finally reached the town Naruto was impressed; it was a lot bigger than he had expected of a town so far away from civilization. If he had to guess there would have to be about 30,000 people living here of not more. The town was buzzing with activity and as it was already getting dark it was mostly adults that roamed the streets. Naruto followed Jiraiya through the crowd all while looking around as much as possible. Jiraiya seemed to know exactly where he was headed as he didn't hesitate for a second before turning left or right and Naruto wondered what the man had planned for him. After walking through some alley's and narrow streets they came upon a huge property. Naruto whistled as he knew that whoever lived here had to be loaded and very important. To his utter shock Jiraiya just went inside like he owned the place before he could stop him.

"Ero-Sennin, you can't just barge into someone's house like that." Naruto hissed at the man. Jiraiya looked at him funny and then started laughing at him. Naruto was about to yell at him when a old man came from around the corner.

"Ah Jiraiya-sama, so good to have you back." The said bowing to Jiraiya. "We have prepared for your return and everything is as you asked."

"Thank you Hiroshi; I would like you to meet my apprentice Namikaze Naruto." Jiraiya said smiling at the man.

"It's an honor to meet you Namikaze-sama." Hiroshi said bowing deeply to Naruto. "I remember how your father trained here before though he was a bit older than you are now."

"You knew my father?" Naruto asked surprised. "And please call me Naruto, I'm not one for formalities."

"Very well Naruto-sama." Hiroshi said smiling. "If you and Jiraiya-sama would follow me; I've prepared the bath so you can relax."

Naruto and Jiraiya followed the man and soon both of them were relaxing in the hot water at the back of the house. Hiroshi had taken their clothes so they could be cleaned and informed them that dinner would be served whenever they were out of the bath. Naruto looked in amazement as the baths were big enough to fit a whole family and then some. He also noticed that Jiraiya was strangely familiar with the layout of the house.

"So Gaki, what do you think of the house?" Jiraiya asked his apprentice.

"Well, it's certainly a very nice place." Naruto admitted. "Whoever lives here must be both rich and powerful."

"You might say that." Jiraiya smirked at Naruto.

"Do you know the owner of the house?" Naruto asked him.

"I do but then again you know him as well." Jiraiya smiled mysteriously. 'I wonder when he'll figure it out.'

"Me? I don't know anyone that…." Naruto said stopping in mid sentence as he understood what Jiraiya was hinting at. "YOU? This is your home?"

"That's right Gaki; well actually it's one of my homes." Jiraiya shrugged. "You didn't think that I just travel everywhere and sleep in the open air did you?"

"Well, now that you mentioned it." Naruto said embarrassed. "I hadn't really thought about it until now. I mean you have to admit that someone like you owning a place like this is pretty unusual."

"Someone like me? What's that supposed to mean brat." Jiraiya fired back pushing Naruto on the head so he went under water. Naruto came back up with a red face of the hot water and retaliated by spraying the man with water as well. Soon an all out water fight was going on and if Hiroshi hadn't come back to check what the ruckus was all about they might have started using small Suiton Jutsu at each other.

Dinner was an eventful affair as Hiroshi told Naruto of some of the things Minato had done while he was training here. Apparently his father was quite the comedian and enjoyed playing pranks or was up to mischief whenever he had free time so Jiraiya had worked him to the bone so that when evening came Minato was too tired to bother annoying him. Naruto laughed loudly when he heard the story of how he had tricked Jiraiya with a fake love letter from one of the women in the town and how Jiraiya had waited eagerly for the woman who never came.

Jiraiya laughed as well when he remembered some of the things his first apprentice had done; Minato was a once in a lifetime student but for some reason he believed that Naruto would surpass even his father. When he looked at Naruto laughing and enjoying himself he couldn't help but see the image of Minato behind Naruto. The two of them were like two pea's in a pot; not only did the resemble each other very much but Naruto seemed to have the same kind of innocence that Minato always managed to keep. That didn't mean he couldn't see some traits of Kushina in Naruto; in fact if he believed what Sarutobi had told him Naruto acted more like his mother until he started training with Anko. It was only natural Jiraiya thought; no matter how much a boy loves his mother he would always look up to his father and try to surpass him.

The rest of the evening was spend by telling stories and when Hiroshi excused himself saying that he needed his rest Naruto thanked him for telling him about his father. Naruto then took out his scroll and started reading on the first Jutsu he wanted to learn. Jiraiya however was working on the training schedule Naruto would follow while they stayed here.

* * *

The next morning Naruto woke up early and figured that he might as well start the day. He got up and got dressed in his training clothes before exiting the room and walked to the training field next to the garden. According to Hiroshi the training field had everything he would need; there was a large pond filled with water for practising Suiton Jutsu, a large open space for Fuuton and Katon Jutsu and enough ground of Doton Jutsu. Around the training field he could see that there was a track made for running and several post for kicking and punching.

He figured the run around the training field was about half a mile and started running laps. Half a mile wasn't such a big distance but it was enough if you ran enough laps; when he finished his laps he started doing his usual number of push-ups and sit-ups before turning to the wooden posts and started kicking and punching. While Naruto was occupied Jiraiya and Hiroshi were observing him careful not to be noticed.

"What do you think?" Jiraiya asked his old time friend.

"I can definitely see how he's Minato's son." Hiroshi said chuckling. "They have the same drive and ambition to make it in this world. Ah, it seems only yesterday when you brought Minato here for the first time."

"While that's true, Naruto is his own person but you're right though." Jiraiya said. "They're definitely alike."

Jiraiya went over to Naruto and both of them started on their daily spar. Naruto still hadn't been able to do much to Jiraiya's clone but he was making progress even he felt it. Jiraiya corrected him on some of his stances or tactics but overall he was very impressed with how the blonde fought. After the spar Jiraiya told Naruto to make some clones and work on his seals while he told the real one to follow him. Naruto readily obeyed and followed Jiraiya to the garden; the garden was made in Japanese style and had some small water currents running through it with plants and rocks spread throughout the garden. It was a very serene and calming place and that was exactly what Jiraiya wanted it to be.

"Alright Gaki, while your clones are busy with Fuinjutsu we'll work on something else." Jiraiya said. "From now on each day you'll spend a part of the morning meditating."

"Meditating? Why do I have to learn that?" Naruto wondered. Inside he was groaning as sitting still was bad in his book; he had way too much energy for that.

"Because knowing to meditate will come in handy one day when you learn the secrets of being a Toad summoner." Jiraiya said mysteriously.

"Can you tell me the secret?" Naruto asked.

"Nope; you're not ready yet." Jiraiya said smiling at how Naruto seemed to protest. "Naruto, please trust me on this. I know that one day in the not so distant future you'll be ready but not yet. When that day comes you'll understand why I taught you this."

"Fine but this better be worth it." Naruto smiled.

"Good now sit down and close your eyes." Jiraiya instructed him and showed him how to sit in the correct pose. Naruto followed and sat down like Jiraiya showed him but found it kind of uncomfortable at first but Jiraiya said he would get used to it. Naruto closed his eyes as he was told and Jiraiya warned him that meditating isn't just close your eyes and think about nothing; it would take some time before he would get the hang of it.

Jiraiya was right about that last part; the first few moments Naruto managed to think of nothing in particular but soon after his thoughts started to wonder and once the thinking started it was almost impossible to turn it off again. Not only that but sitting still so long was tiring to Naruto's surprise; he had to concentrate all the time so he wouldn't be distracted by the smallest of things like the running of the water or the chirping of the birds. At the end he became so tired that he started having trouble just keeping his eyes open and he just knew that he had dozed off a little. Finally after almost an hour of trying Jiraiya said that was enough practice for the day and they went inside to get a shower and have lunch.

After lunch Naruto and Jiraiya went to the centre of town and sat down in one of the many stands that the market place had. Jiraiya ordered them some drinks and talked a bit to some people he knew while Naruto quietly waited for Jiraiya to explain what he had planned for the afternoon. Once they were sure not to be disturbed Jiraiya started his explanation.

"Okay Gaki, do you know what makes a good spy?" Jiraiya asked him.

"I would say stealth for sure." Naruto said after some thinking. "If he hasn't got any stealth then he would be noticed right away during spying."

"That's a good one but no." Jiraiya said. "You're thinking that a spy is someone who sneaks inside and listens to conversations while nobody notices him, am I right." Naruto nodded and asked if that wasn't what a spy did. "Of course sometimes a spy has to eavesdrop on someone or follow him but that's just one aspect of spying. You see Gaki, a really good spy is one that doesn't need to follow or eavesdrop; a good spy will be able to tell if someone has information just by observing him or her and then he'll use whatever he has learned to get what he want."

"That sounds a lot like infiltration." Naruto said.

"That's also an aspect of spying." Jiraiya agreed. "What I'm trying to say is that a spy is someone with good observational skills, who's able to read a person by his actions and has good people skills. This is what we'll be working on over the next few weeks and months."

"But Ero-Sennin I don't want to be a spy." Naruto said honest.

"I'm not telling you to become a spy Gaki." Jiraiya said knowing that Naruto would complain. "But as a Hokage you'll need to be able to recognize spies because I'm sure you'll remember how Kabuto managed to stay hidden for so long without anyone noticing he was Orochimaru's right hand. Spies are everywhere Naruto and even Konoha has problems with them; even from the inside."

"I see what you mean; you're telling me that the only way for you to learn how to recognize a spy is to learn how to be one yourself?" Naruto nodded.

"Exactly." Jiraiya said glad Naruto understood.

Jiraiya then explained that Naruto was to learn to recognize body language by observing the towns people every afternoon. Also Jiraiya would come by every now and then and ask him a question about something in the area and Naruto would have to answer from what he had seen. Also he had to see how people reacted to certain situations and how they dealt with them; this would teach him how to react in similar situations.

"Also you'll write down the things that seemed weird to you or what you deemed interesting and we'll discuss this after dinner." Jiraiya told him.

* * *

And so it began; Naruto spend the next weeks learning how to meditate and observed people and their body language all while writing down things he thought was weird or interesting. At first he had been greatly annoyed at having to do such a thing but after a few days he started to see patterns and it become somewhat a game to predict how people would react. He also learned how to judge people by their actions and see what kind of character they had.

While the afternoons were spend by learning to observe people and learn about how people react in different situations Naruto filled his evenings with working on his seals and new Jutsu. Jiraiya had given him a completed seal without telling how what it's purpose was saying that Naruto had to find out by studying the seal. Naruto had racked his brain on the seal and had finally figured out what seal it was; the seal was part of a set that when used together would work as a trap. You could place the seal in a square or whatever form you like and the seals would connect creating a trap area. Once you enter the trap zone the seal would activate and you would be trapped. Naruto did see the uses of such seals and he eagerly learned how to make them himself.

Jiraiya on the other hand spend most of his days gathering information for his next 'Icha Icha' book. Naruto wasn't surprised however as he knew that Jiraiya tried his best to stay focused on his training whenever they were together. Hiroshi had said that his father had reacted in the exact same way when it came to Jiraiya's peeping. Naruto asked if Jiraiya had always been like this and Hiroshi laughed saying that a non-perverted Jiraiya would mean the end of the world.

* * *

Hundreds of miles away, in Ta No Kuni an irritated Uchiha Sasuke opened his eyes. He had been confined to his bed by Kabuto and had been told that he wouldn't start training for at least another two weeks. When Sasuke had arrived at Orochimaru's secret base he had been unconscious and stayed that way for two more days; it didn't needed to be said that he was pissed at how Naruto had defeated him even with his CS2 active. Kabuto rubbing his nose in it didn't help either and Orochimaru wasn't any help at all.

In fact the Snake Sannin was furious as well; he had lost four of his best men just to get a broken and unconscious Uchiha in return. He didn't care about the four but they were still some of his prime experiments. The members of the Sound Five had been the only shinobi who had managed to activate the CS2 so far; every other subject had either succumbed to insanity or just failed activating it to begin with. The arrival of Sasuke did help him forget about the precious research he had lost but only a little. When he had seen Kabuto arriving with Sasuke slumped over his shoulder Orochimaru knew who the young Uchiha had faced; Namikaze Naruto was a thorn in his side and it infuriated him that somehow the little brat always managed to sabotage his plans. The invasion of Konoha had been the first time; first he defeated Gaara and then he helped the old man into defeating him. The second time he interfered with getting Tsunade and now this.

'Blasted Namikaze; like father like son, always sticking their nose in other peoples' business.' Orochimaru thought.

Sasuke was thinking along the same lines but it soon changed into anger and jealousy. Sasuke was a young man with a lot of pride; coming from a famous clan does that to you. But being defeated or passed by time and time again by some lowlife shinobi who used to be the dead last of his class? No that was too much for him; he swore to regain his honor one day and he didn't care who he had to kill to succeed. But Naruto's defeat would have to wait he thought; Itachi's dead was what he wanted most of all. He sighed loudly as he patiently lay back in the bed waiting until he could start training again; he had a lot of work to do and not enough time to do it in.

* * *

Naruto had been in Mihara for almost two months now and he could tell that Jiraiya was getting anxious to get moving again. Part of this training trip was to evade Akatsuki from knowing his whereabouts and staying too long in one place would only endanger him. Still Naruto liked being in Mihara; it was a large town full of life and thanks to the training he had been forced to do he had learned a lot about how people act and react to certain situations. His personal training had been going great and he had even managed to finish the Hiraishin seals. He laughed a bit when he remembered what had happened last week when he first tried to perform the legendary jutsu.

_Flashback_

_Jiraiya was sitting in the peaceful garden working on his novels; he had done some serious research while being here and come up with some brilliant ideas for his next books. What helped him most was that contrary to Konoha he didn't have to worry about some kunoichi finding him as most of the people here were civilians so he could peek to his heart content. The village was treasure cave for beauties and he would have been a fool if he didn't take advantage of it. So here he was scribbling down the plot for his next 'icha icha' book when suddenly a loud 'I DID IT' came from the training site causing him to fumble his pen and ink messing up his notes. Cursing the blonde gaki he went over to berate him for yelling but when he saw Naruto jumping around like crazy he wondered what made the boy so happy._

"_Oi Gaki, what's with the yelling and the jumping around?" Jiraiya said still a bit mad about losing his notes to a messy blob of ink._

"_I did it Ero-Sennin!" Naruto exclaimed loudly. "I finished the seal for the Hiraishin." _

"_Oho, did you now?" Jiraiya said surprised. He knew just how long and how hard Naruto had worked to complete the seals necessary for the Hiraishin. "Well show me."_

_For the next hour Jiraiya and Naruto were in deep discussion on Naruto's seals and in the end Jiraiya cleared it as complete. Naruto smiled when Jiraiya told him how proud he felt about it and that Naruto deserved a pat on the back for his hard work. He also told Naruto that he had permission to use it in training but that he was forbidden to use it in battle until he gave him permission. Jiraiya even made Naruto make a promise knowing that Naruto wouldn't break it unless he was in danger of dying. _

"_Alright Gaki, give it a try." Jiraiya said; he too was eager to see his first student's famed technique again after so many years. _

_Naruto nodded and wrapped the piece of paper with the seal around a kunai before throwing it at a tree. First he concentrated on the feeling a few times until he felt confident enough to try it for real. After collecting the kunai he breathed deeply and concentrated before throwing the kunai once more; as soon as he felt the call from the seal he gave in to the feeling and let the seal pull him forward. Naruto instantly appeared by the kunai only to fail to grab it and to crash head first into the tree. As he fell down on the ground he wondered what the hell had happened only to hear Jiraiya laughing loudly behind him._

"_BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA; that must have been one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my entire life." Jiraiya laughed. "Bam, straight into the tree."_

"_Shut up Ero-Sennin." Naruto said irritated. "I don't understand what happened."_

"_I bet you thought that the Hiraishin is just 'throw the kunai, reappear and kill'; am I right?" Jiraiya said smiling. _

"_Well yeah, isn't that how it works?" Naruto asked curious._

"_In theory yes; in real life however things aren't that easy." Jiraiya nodded. "It took your father about five months to get used to the high speed movement; actually I think he did the same thing you did when he first tried it."_

"_I see what you mean; while the seal pulls me in, I don't have the time to react and I'm already at the other side." Naruto said thinking. "I need to find the exact timing and speed to move otherwise all I'll do is crash and burn."_

"_You'll get it eventually but for now you need to practice." Jiraiya said. "How much chakra did that take?" _

"_A lot; I don't think I can do it more than three times in a row." Naruto admitted. Even with his stamina and chakra reserves the Hiraishin took a lot of juice. "Guess it's only natural that a technique like this would come with a huge cost in terms of chakra."_

"_True; a lot of people thought that your dad could use that jutsu all day long but in reality it took a lot out of him each time he used it." Jiraiya nodded. "Of course he was a bit older than you are now when he created it." _

"_Guess I'll have to double my training schedule, won't I?" Naruto just shrugged._

_End Flashback._

* * *

Since that day Naruto had focused his training on learning to use the Hiraishin correctly and to increase his stamina and chakra reserves even more. Jiraiya was merciless when it came to both exercises and he pushed Naruto beyond the limits but not once did the blonde complain. Naruto smiled at how much he had learned already from the perverted Sannin; Naruto would never say it out loud but he really respected the man.

Seeing that it was getting late he jumped down from the roof he had been sitting on to observe the people below and walked home. Hiroshi would have another great meal prepared for him and he was sure Jiraiya was going to ask him what he had seen today. He entered the property and saw Hiroshi sweeping the floor and he waved at him to say hello; Hiroshi had been a great help and he had learned a lot about his father from the man as well.

"Hello Naruto-san, how was your afternoon?" Hiroshi asked gently.

"Same as it was yesterday, Hiroshi." Naruto smiled.

"Dinner will be served in about an hour." Hiroshi nodded at Naruto.

"Thanks Hiroshi, you're the best." Naruto said sincerely. "Where's the pervert?"

"Jiraiya-sama is in the garden gathering his belongings." Hiroshi told him.

Naruto thanked and went to garden to see Jiraiya; as he had expected Jiraiya was getting restless and Naruto had no doubt that they would be leaving in the next couple days. Naruto wouldn't have minded to stay a bit longer but he knew that wasn't possible. He saw Jiraiya sitting there using storage scroll to seal food, medicine and clothes and he sat down in front of him.

"We're leaving?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, tomorrow morning at sunrise." Jiraiya nodded. "We've stayed here long enough besides I have to meet with one of my informants. I received a message that says she has urgent news."

Naruto nodded before leaving saying he was going to pack as well. The packing itself didn't take very long and soon Naruto was enjoying a hot bath just before dinner. Hiroshi had once more outdone himself and prepared a feast worthy of a Hokage. They talked and laughed some more as they all knew it was going to be a while before they would see each other again.

* * *

The next morning Jiraiya and Naruto left at sunrise and soon they were traveling at great speed through forests and trees. Jiraiya told Naruto that his informant was stationed in a small village several miles from the borders with several of their neighbor countries like Kusa, Taki and Ame. The town was a place where many shinobi passed and thus having a informant there who took care to know the latest news was invaluable. The trip to the village would take about two days so they would use the shinobi highway meaning trees and highspeed movement to get there faster.

Eventually it had taken just about a day and a half to reach the town called Kawaga. Naruto looked around and like Jiraiya had said the town wasn't all that big; in fact Naruto would be surprise if there were even a thousand people living here. He followed Jiraiya through the streets and frowned when he noticed that he was being led to the shady part of town. Jiraiya ignored any protests Naruto had and continued his way until he had reached his destination. Naruto couldn't believe when he saw just where Jiraiya had brought him; the building in front of him was a sleazy brothel called ' The Pink Room'.

"Ero-Sennin, what are we doing here?" Naruto hissed.

"Relax Gaki, just follow my lead." Jiraiya smirked.

"I'm not going inside." Naruto protested. "I'm not interested in these kind of places."

"You seem to misunderstand; this is where I meet my informant." Jiraiya said softly. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from the mean ladies who try to seduce you."

"Very funny Ero-Sennin." Naruto said irritated but followed Jiraiya inside feeling very embarrassed about going inside such a place.

It didn't take half a minute or Jiraiya was surrounded by women who all called him 'Jiraiya-sama' and were hanging on him making the pervert giggle like crazy. The girls didn't seem to mind that he was putting his arms around them and continued on praising him and saying how long it had been since he had stopped by. Naruto hoped that the girls would stay focused on Jiraiya so he could escape but it wasn't meant to be in the end.

"Ara, Jiraiya-kun who's that young hunk over there?" One of the girls asked suddenly making all the girls look at him. Naruto cursed and smiled shyly at the women who were now staring at him. Suddenly he was engulfed in women who were asking him questions saying how cute his whiskers were and how strong and handsome he was. That he could deal with but the fact that the women were using their hands and bodies to show him how much they liked was too much. He looked at Jiraiya for help only to see him sulk in the corner mumbling something about stupid blonde apprentices who took away his girls.

"Alright girls, that's quite enough." A voice suddenly said from the second floor balcony. "We don't want to scare Jiraiya-sama's friend for life."

A loud 'Yes Mistress' followed by all the girls and one by one the let go of him and went left the hallway to their rooms. Some of them quickly winked at him or gave his a small kiss on the cheek before leaving. The woman who had ordered the girls to stop laughed a bit before calling him and Jiraiya upstairs. Naruto wearily followed the pervert upstairs and sat down in what he supposed was the woman's office.

"It's a pleasure seeing you again, Kasumi-chan." Jiraiya said while taking her hand and kissing it. "You look as beautiful as ever."

"Oh, Jiraiya-sama you haven't changed one bit since last time." The woman now identified as Kasumi giggled.

"Naruto, I would like you to meet Kasumi. She's one of my best informants and a wonderful woman in all that matters." Jiraiya said smiling.

"It's an honor to meet you Kasumi-san." Naruto said bowing slightly. "My name is Naruto." He knew better to give his last name as well; he and Jiraiya had agreed on that before.

"It's good to meet you Naruto-san." Kasumi said greeting Naruto. "Are you a student of Jiraiya-sama?"

"Naruto here is to be my successor so I thought it wise to introduce him to you." Jiraiya said nodding.

"I see; well then I shall get to business." Kasumi said before standing up. Jiraiya did the same and followed her to the wall where a painting was hanging. Naruto watched as they both bit their thumbs and wiped some blood on the nametag of the painting. A 'click' could be heard and Kasumi grabbed the painting reveal it as the door of a safe that held several scrolls that she handed to Jiraiya. Kasumi then sat back down with Naruto while Jiraiya started reading the scrolls.

"You would be surprised what a woman learns when a man wants to impress them." Kasumi said to Naruto.

"I'm sorry?" Naruto said not really understanding.

"I guess Jiraiya-sama hasn't explained this to you." Kasumi smiled. "You see, almost all of the girls here were saved by Jiraiya-sama; we were slaves for the rich and powerful and used as sex-toys before he rescued us from that hell. After he freed us we promised our lives and bodies to him but he refused saying that he didn't safe us just to enslave us once more. He did however ask if we were willing to contact him if we learned anything about foreign shinobi that might be of interest of him."

"Wow, Ero-Sennin did that?" Naruto said surprised. He would have never thought that a pervert like Jiraiya would refuse a group of women who were pledging themselves to him.

"Jiraiya-sama may be a pervert but he would never force a woman into doing something she didn't want to do." Kasumi said nodding. "When he asked us to inform him we decided to start this business; we were trained to be toys of pleasure and for many of us it was the only way we knew how to live. This time it was different as we were the ones making the money so we gained a lot of prestige and wealth over the years." Kasumi explained. "Lots of men come here to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and they always try to impress the girls with stories about themselves. What they don't realize is that the girls are trained to ask questions and gather information without them knowing. Every conversation is recorded by seals and each night we sift through them for anything that might interest Jiraiya-sama."

"That's amazing." Naruto said clearly impressed. "I would have never thought something like that was possible."

"Tell me a little about yourself Naruto-san." Kasumi asked him. "Let us go downstairs and meet the other girls. After all, if you're going to be Jiraiya-sama's successor we need to get to know each other."

For the next few hours Naruto and the girls talked about anything and everything. Naruto found them to be very intelligent women who could talk about a lot of things; a few of the girls had already taken a great liking to him and promised to help him when Jiraiya had retired. Naruto had thanked them and had a great time talking and laughing with the girls; they had a lot of stories to tell about some of their clients although they never mentioned any names. Naruto especially enjoyed the stories where the men would make fools out of themselves just to try and impress the girls.

"So Naruto-kun, do you have a girlfriend?" One of them asked interested.

"I do but for her safety I can't tell you much about her." Naruto said knowing they would understand.

"Do you love her?" She asked not really caring about the details of his girlfriend.

"With everything I am." Naruto said with conviction. The girls giggled and smiled at Naruto's confession and they started to talk amongst themselves about their own dreams of finding the perfect man for them.

* * *

Upstairs Jiraiya was reading through the scrolls until he came upon the one that was marked with a special code that only he and Kasumi knew. It was the code for when it had something to do with Oto or Orochimaru. Intrigued he opened the scroll and started reading only to smirk when he read the information; he would have to give Kasumi and the girls a bonus for this kind of information. It said that one of the men who had came here a week ago had seen a shinobi with a musical note on his forehead protector in the mountains a few miles from the border between Ta no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. Jiraiya knew that Orochimaru had several secret bases in Hi no Kuni but he had never been able to find one so this was a prime opportunity for him to strike at the snake. He just knew that Naruto would enjoy doing the very same thing as well.

* * *

Well, that's it. I know that this chapter is kind of boring but I gave you something didn't I? The Hiraishin is finally complete and now Naruto can start mastering it. I find it hard to believe that the seals for the kunai is all it took to do the Hiraishin. Such a move has to have some difficulties to learn otherwise it would be too good to be true. I'm sure Minato had to work very hard to master it even after he created it. Anyway let me know what you thought about it.


	42. Chapter 42: Orochimaru's Hideout

Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter of this story. I hope everyone had an enjoyable two weeks. For me things are busy, busy and busy but that's okay. I'm lucky enough to have a job in these troubled times and don't mind working a little overtime. But that and those classes I follow at night seriously steal my free time lol. Not to worry though the story won't hurt under it so chapter will keep coming every two weeks like usual.

Not much to say but to wish you happy reading and asking to tell me how it was. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 42: Orochimaru's Hideout

After they had spent the night at the brothel (Naruto sleeping in a separate room as Jiraiya partied with the girls) Jiraiya explained what he had learned. Needless to say Naruto had instantly agreed to search for the base and destroy it if possible. After a good breakfast and saying goodbye to the girls they set out in search for the base. The trip would take a day at least but that didn't bother either of them; the fact that they had the possibility to pull one over Orochimaru was too good a chance to let go.

When they finally made it to the place where according to Kasumi's notes the man had seen the Oto-nin they slowly scouted the area around the mountain formation. They stayed out of sight hiding in the forest surrounding the mountains but didn't see or find anything that indicated a secret base. Jiraiya called Naruto to him and explained what they were going to do next.

"Alright Gaki, this is what we'll do." Jiraiya said. "I'll summon a toad who will scout out the area for us. When it comes back we'll wait for nightfall and then we'll get closer."

"You use toads as a scout?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Of course, I'm the Toad Sennin for a reason." Jiraiya said hotly. "You'd be surprised at what Toads can do for you."

"Hey, I didn't doubt you it's just that I never thought about using a summon for recon." Naruto admitted.

"You'll see." Jiraiya said before jumping down from the tree. He quickly did the necessary seal and summoned a small toad. Naruto jumped down as well and looked at the summon. It wasn't big, as a matter of fact it wasn't bigger than his fist. Naruto wondered if the poor thing would be okay.

"Jiraiya-sama, how can I be of service?" the small toad asked.

"Hi Gamakobi, listen I need you to scout out the mountain in front of us." Jiraiya said kneeling next to the little toad. "Look for hidden traps and entrances. Be careful because there are hostile shinobi in the vicinity."

"No problem Jiraiya-sama. I'll be back in a few hours." The toad said before hopping away. Naruto tried to follow it but he lost it out of sight not even seconds after it left.

"Ero-Sennin, that little toad just disappeared from view." Naruto said.

"Ah, that's one of Gamakobi's abilities. He's able to camouflage himself according to his surroundings making him practically invisible unless you know he's there." Jiraiya said smiling.

"Amazing." Was the only thing Naruto managed to say.

* * *

The next few hours were agonizing slow for both Naruto and Jiraiya. They couldn't make a move until Gamakobi came back and informed them of what he had found. They decided that they might as well take a nap for the time being and so they each took turn. It was Naruto's turn to take guard and he was getting bored. Nothing had happened over the past few hours and he wondered if the little toad had been found out or maybe it got killed in a trap. Just then he felt a small weight fell on his head and heard a voice.

"Yo, I'm back." The weight now identified as Gamakobi said. Naruto didn't waste any time and kicked Jiraiya awake.

"Good work Gamakobi, now tell us what you've found out." Jiraiya said after he saw the little toad sitting on his apprentice head.

"The place is well guarded and there are lots of traps along the way." Gamakobi started to explain. "I followed the path leading up the mountain and saw several guards positioned. There are three major guard houses with two shinobi inside. Each guard house is surrounded by traps but nothing special." He made a little sketch of the path with his paw in the dirt.

"Hmm, security is pretty tight. What else have you found?" Jiraiya remarked.

"Well, once you reach the end of the path there's a huge mountain. At first I thought I missed the entrance to the base but it seems that the mountain itself is the base." Gamakobi continued. "I was unable to find a way in from that side so I look around a bit and found a way in on the side of the mountain. There's an air vent that's big enough for both of you to fit in but it's filled with traps."

"That's too obvious as a way in." Jiraiya realized. "There's no way Orochimaru would make such a mistake."

"Other than that I couldn't find much else. Nobody entered or left in the time I observed the cliff." Gamakobi said finishing his report.

"Thanks Gamakobi you did great." Jiraiya said thanking the toad. Gamakobi nodded and disappeared in a little puff of smoke.

"So how are we going to get inside?" Naruto asked. He had been quiet during the report not wanting to disturb.

"Simple, we take out the guards one by one." Jiraiya said. "We dispose of five of the six guards and use the last to extract the information to get inside the base."

Naruto nodded and together they started working on a plan to dispose of the guards without getting caught. Jiraiya told Naruto that once they had killed the guards Naruto would make some Kage Bunshins and have them use the 'Henge' to take their place. They would systematically eliminate every shinobi and replace them with a Kage Bunshin so they wouldn't arouse suspicion. Slowly Jiraiya and Naruto approached the first watchtower. One guard stood at the base of the tower and the other stood inside watching the surroundings from above. Jiraiya signed to Naruto that he would take care of the one inside while Naruto took care of the other one. Naruto nodded and watched Jiraiya use his patented invisibility jutsu to climb the tower. Naruto however used one of the jutsu Anko had taught him. Using the 'Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu' he disappeared into the ground and positioned his right beneath the shinobi; without any hesitation Naruto pulled the shinobi under and stabbed him in the head with a kunai. The guy had been so surprised that he didn't even have time to let out a scream. Naruto quickly made a Kage Bunshin to take the man's place.

Jiraiya didn't waste any time as well; once he had climbed the wall he grabbed the man in a headlock while covering the man's mouth before breaking his neck. A Kage Bunshin later and it seemed like nothing had happened. He disposed of the body by bringing it down to the ground and pulling it under just like Naruto had done. After making sure that there were no traces left the moved on to the second tower. After they eliminated the guards they were about to move when Naruto stopped and looked around.

"What's wrong?" Jiraiya asked.

"Ero-Sennin, take a look at this." Naruto said pointing to boxes full of shuriken and Kunai. "Seems like a waste to just leave them here doesn't it?"

"I never took you for a thief, gaki." Jiraiya smirked. "But good thinking; we should take whatever we can."

Naruto nodded before taking out an empty scroll and placing it on the ground. With swift and confident strokes he made the seal and sealed everything of value inside the scroll. He took the boxes of weapons and any documents that he could find which they could read and examine later on. The third tower was located close to the cliff so traps were much harder to evade and dismantle but for someone like Jiraiya most of the traps were child play. This time however they wouldn't kill both the guards but they would take one in for interrogation. Jiraiya told Naruto to leave this part to him and Naruto happily agreed since interrogation and torture were never his strong point.

Once again Jiraiya used his special peeping jutsu to get inside and with a well placed kunai and hit to head he took control of the tower. Naruto quickly replaced them with Kage Bunshin and went inside to look for items and stuff that could be useful to them. Actually he didn't care much about the kunai or shuriken but if he could annoy Snake-face by stealing his supply of weapons then he was all for it. Meanwhile Jiraiya was questioning the last Oto-nin so they could learn the layout of the bases and the eventual number of shinobi inside. Half an hour later he disposed of the corpse and went to find Naruto.

"Alright this is what I found out." Jiraiya said softly."Apparently this is not a base for Orochimaru but a prison. Inside are the failed experiments and those who opposed him."

"Failed experiments?" Naruto asked.

"Think about it Gaki, even someone like Orochimaru wouldn't be able to create something like the cursed seal without experimenting first." Jiraiya said. "And Orochimaru is an impatient man; if things don't go his way or you end up angering him then ending up in prison is the least of your problems."

"Damn that bastard. How many lives did he ruin just to get what he wanted?" Naruto cursed; he really hated that man.

"Yes well, it seems that there had been a riot not long ago and most of the guards inside got killed." Jiraiya said. "The rest of the guards got out and sealed the base off so they couldn't get out. The Oto-nin my spy followed came back from requesting backup which should arrive in two days."

"So what do we do now?" Naruto asked.

"Well, we have two options." Jiraiya said sticking up two fingers. "One is that we ignore what's going on here and move on. That does however mean that the prisoners inside stay prisoners. Option two is to get inside and try to free those who are sane and innocent."

"We can't just leave innocent people to rot in jail just because they pissed off Snake-face!" Naruto said hotly.

"I know Gaki, but you have to remember that not all of those people are innocent." Jiraiya said calmly. While he understood Naruto's feelings he knew what kind of crowd Orochimaru hanged out with. "Some of them might deserve being locked up in a cell."

"I understand but I don't want to abandon them without giving them a chance." Naruto sighed.

Jiraiya nodded and told him that he didn't expect anything else from his apprentice. Jiraiya explained the layout of the base saying that there were multiple levels starting at ground level and then going down; the first level was nothing more than quarters for the guards but starting at the second level cells could be found. Third level and up held the strongest prisoners meaning the failed experiments. According to his interrogation victim they were the ones who had broken loose. Jiraiya mentioned that there was a chance that they had gone on a rampage so there might not be any survivors left to rescue. Nonetheless they would check it out in case some people had survived.

Knowing now that there weren't any guards left they didn't need to be cautious anymore so they just walked to the mountain towards the entrance of the base. After pushing a small rock aside a door opened granting them access. Jiraiya went in first and after checking the area called for Naruto. They crept along the wall not wanting to alert anyone of their presence. Like the information said the first floor was nothing but small rooms for the guards and it appeared that the prisoners hadn't been able to get up to this level. After searching and sealing everything of value they decided to move on to the next level.

When they managed to open the small gate they knew that they entered a place of horrors. Bodies were laying everywhere and even the walls were smeared with blood. It was obvious that no one had survived this slaughter; Naruto had to avert his eyes for a few minutes and even Jiraiya, who had fought in the last war and had seen some disturbing things, didn't feel comfortable. He looked at Naruto and asked him if he would be okay. Naruto said he would be fine but that he didn't expect this.

"Okay, from here on we'll have to be careful." Jiraiya said when he saw that Naruto was doing better. "I want you to make several Kage Bunshin and let them sweep the area. When things are clear we'll move on."

Naruto nodded and made two dozen clones and told them their orders. While the clones were checking the level for any danger Naruto and Jiraiya went out to check for survivors. When after thirty minutes they gave up and waited for the report of Naruto's clones. One by one the clones dismissed themselves giving the original their memories. None of them had found any trace of survivors or enemies meaning that they were located further down below. Seeing that there was nothing left to do they went down the stairs quietly to the next level.

* * *

When they entered the third level both Naruto and Jiraiya were on their guard; from this level on they could be facing stronger opponents. After sending out a Kage Bunshin to check things out and finding the place completely empty they entered. The place gave both of them the chills; each cell was barely big enough for a grown up man. It didn't even have a bed only a small toilet. The place was inhumane and it made Naruto feel sick. Nobody deserved something like that; expect Snake-Face himself maybe.

When they walked through the hallway Naruto felt like he was being watched but before he could alert Jiraiya he heard something move towards him from behind. On instinct he ducked only to see a large claw sailing over his head. He twisted on his right foot while his left hand unsheathed his sword; he focused some chakra into the seals and slashed his attacker horizontally across the stomach. A loud scream of pain and agony sounded through the place and when Naruto looked he saw that he had separated the upper and lower half of his opponent's body.

"Naruto are you okay?" Jiraiya asked worried.

"Yeah I'm fine." Naruto said breathing deeply looking at the creature lying in front of him. "I'm sorry; the screams will have alerted the rest of them."

"Don't worry about that." Jiraiya said. "How did you know he was there?"

"I kind of felt like I was being watched and I was about to tell you when he attacked. I just reacted and ducked under his attack and used my sword to counter-attack. I didn't mean to cut him in half."

Jiraiya nodded and told Naruto that he did the right thing. He then looked at the thing that attacked his apprentice and shook his head. There wasn't anything remotely human about it. Expect for the fact that it still had a human figure. Its arms were long with spikes along the length and the hands were claws meant for ripping apart its prey. On its back were two large horns and a tail sprouted from his backside. The head was monstrous with large teeth and creepy eyes; the horns on his head didn't help either. Jiraiya shook his head at the horrors that his ex-teammate had created.

* * *

Now that they were sure that the rest of the prisoners had been alerted of their presence Jiraiya thought that is was best that they proceeded with extreme caution. After a second sweep of the floor it proved to be devoid of life so they went on to the third level of the prison. When Naruto received the information thanks to his Kage Bunshin indicating that they were alone they entered. At first it looked like the two floor above but when they looked closer they could see that this level was build for the heavy cases. The cell doors were reinforced several times, the bars were at least twice as thick as those of the floor above and the cells were even smaller if that was possible. No wonder the prisoners revolted against this kind of treatment Naruto thought.

"Find anything?" Jiraiya whispered.

"No nothing." Naruto answered equally quiet. "Where do you think they're hiding?"

Jiraiya didn't answer but advanced through the level until he came to a large door. The door was forced open and Jiraiya could see that it would take a lot of strength to manage that. Whatever or whoever forced that door would have to be very strong indeed. That or he had a lot of help but somehow he doubted that these creatures were able of working together. It seemed to him that they ran on instinct and on the thought of 'survival of the fittest'. With Naruto following him he entered the large room and to his surprise they came into a large open place; something like an arena. They were surrounded by a high wall and they could clearly see the seats.

"Ero-Sennin, don't you think this looks a lot like the arena from the Chuunin exams." Naruto asked him.

"Yeah, something's very wrong about this place." He said calmly.

Just then a loud growl resounded though the place making both Naruto and Jiraiya look upwards. They saw a large figure standing on one of the many seats and it looked a lot like the creature Naruto had just killed only moments ago. To their shock more of them arrived and seen the place was filled with at least two dozen creatures staring down at them. Most of them looked like they were holding themselves back from attacking.

"Well, I guess that answers you question about where they might be hiding." Jiraiya tried to joke.

"Really? I hadn't noticed that?" Naruto said sarcastically. "What are they waiting for?"

"I think that they're waiting for the big guy's approval." Jiraiya said pointing at the one who appeared first. "Apparently they hunt in packs like wild animals."

"Great, what are we going to do now?"Naruto sighed.

"Slowly step back towards the door." Jiraiya said pushing Naruto back a bit. "Don't make any sudden movements."

Naruto did exactly as Jiraiya said hoping that they wouldn't have to fight their way out of this mess. Foot after foot he shuffled back, slowly and calmly, inch by inch and for a moment it seemed to work. But when they had moved about halfway back to the door the leader of the pack let out a deafening scream and hell broke loose. A second after the scream both Konoha shinobi were surrounded and the creatures closed in on them.

"No choice Gaki, we'll have to fight our way out of here." Jiraiya yelled before he ducked under a tail that was aimed at his head. "We have to kill them; we can't let them escape from this base."

"Got it Ero-Sennin; don't die on me okay?" Naruto said while unsheathing his sword once again.

"Like they could kill me." Jiraiya snorted before jumping away and attacking some of them on his own.

Naruto nodded and channeled some chakra in his sword making it stronger and sharper than ever. He evaded a hit from above and stabbed his sword straight up his attacker's heart killing it instantly. He didn't have much time to think about as the other joined in the fight. He kicked one away creating some distance and used his Kenjutsu techniques to eliminate two more. He pushed forward so they couldn't gang up on him and stabbed another one in the temple with a kunai before throwing several throwing knives successfully making them scatter around.

Stabbing his sword into the ground he quickly did some handseals and used one of the jutsu he had learned from his father's office. The 'Doton: Chijou Yari' created large spike that shot upwards from the ground intent on stabbing and killing the opponent. When Naruto looked up he could see that three of his attackers hadn't been able to evade the spikes; they were skewered to the floor. Two of them had died instantly but the third was still alive suffering from having his body pierced. Naruto grabbed his sword and ran towards the poor creature; he stopped when he reached the creatures back and brought down his sword decapitating it.

'May you find peace in the afterlife.' Naruto thought solemnly. 'I promise I'll make the man who did this to you pay.'

Jiraiya didn't have to much trouble dealing with the ones who attacked him. Not many people could give him trouble even if they came at him with large numbers. He used his own jutsu 'Doton: Yomi Numa' to create a small swamp that swallowed several of his attackers. He couldn't make it too big otherwise he would cause to much damage to the structure of the place; he didn't want the mountain to collapse on their head after all. Several Rasengan's later and he had succeeded in killing most of them.

When most of them were defeated the rest of the transformed shinobi seemed to understand that they weren't a match for the two Konoha Shinobi. The rest of them hesitantly attacked only to be defeated in an instant either by Naruto or Jiraiya. When their leader let out another scream however all of them seemed to get rid of their fear and attacked en masse. Naruto quickly made a few clones to assist him and Jiraiya resorted to using his former pupil prized technique once again. Several minutes later the place was filled with dead bodies and the only remaining creature was the leader itself. It growled at them before leaping of his seat landing in front of Naruto and Jiraiya. While bigger and no doubt stronger than the rest of his pack he didn't get much of a chance against both Jiraiya and Naruto. The Toad-Sennin just grabbed him by the tail and held him in place while Naruto ended its life by stabbing it through the heart.

"Was the Uchiha like that?" Jiraiya asked Naruto.

"No, Sasuke was a lot stronger than that; and he had full control over his actions." Naruto said shaking his head. "These creatures just acted on instinct and were nothing more than animals."

"Guess that's why Orochimaru was so disappointed with them." Jiraiya shrugged.

"What happens now?" Naruto said out loud.

"We destroy everything; this way we make sure he can't use this facility ever again." Jiraiya said.

* * *

The next hour was spend on placing explosive tags on every supporting wall and Naruto even made some clones using the 'Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu' that would explode at the same time as the tags. Each floor they took what seemed of any importance and rigged it with explosives. Once they left the mountain they hurried back to the forest and a few minutes later the entire mountain shook heavily before exploding. Everything in close range got destroyed in the blast; nothing remained of the base expect a pile of rubble.

"We better get out of here before we have to deal with those reinforcements they called." Jiraiya commented.

"Yeah, though I wish I could see their faces when they arrive." Naruto smiled.

"I pity the one who has to report this to Orochimaru." Jiraiya laughed loudly. "Poor guy won't know what'll hit him."

Said messenger had arrived about two days later only to find the mountain destroyed and everyone dead. He cursed and realized that if he reported the destruction of one of Orochimaru's secret hideouts he would only life long enough to regret taking the job in the first place. So he did the next best thing and ordered his troops back to Oto to inform Orochimaru while he stayed behind and tracked those who had destroyed everything. Of course he had no intention in doing so and a soon as his men were out of sight he dumped his shinobi uniform and disappeared into the forest hoping to get away far enough so nobody would ever find him again. It turned out to be the best decision of his life as Orochimaru was furious and used the entire platoon as subjects for his experiments which killed practically all of them and those that did survive wished for death to free them from the horrors Orochimaru put them through.

* * *

Naruto and Jiraiya didn't know what had happened to the squad Orochimaru had sent out to do damage control in his prison but they didn't care one bit. A dead Oto-nin was a good Oto-nin in their eyes as they were concerned. They had been traveling for a week since the demolition of the base and they were now close to Yuki no Kuni, which was located between Ta no Kuni and Taki no Kuni. At first Naruto wondered why they needed to go there but Jiraiya said he had never been there and since it was close to Ta no Kuni he wanted to build his spy network to include Yuki no Kuni as well. Naruto didn't protest much but still he didn't look forward to the cold that came with the country of snow.

When they crossed the border they noticed that the villages close-by were either very poor or abandoned. This was something that they both considered very suspicious and so they travelled further to see if this continued as they travelled inward. After two days of trekking through the country they came at the shore that connected Yuki no Kuni to the sea and Naruto shivered at the cold winds that hit his face. Jiraiya told Naruto to hurry up so they could cross the mountain of ice to get to the next village. Just when Naruto had reached the top he saw Jiraiya sprint down the mountain like crazy yelling out something but the sounds were lost in the wind. Naruto wondered what the hell got into him when he suddenly noticed three figures standing in the snow at the base of the mountain. One was a beautiful woman with dark colored hair wearing light green robes and beside her were two men armed with swords. From what Naruto could see they were protecting the woman who was shouting something. Naruto looked at where she was staring and saw a man standing on the top of adjourning mountain. He wore blue robes with two yellow feather on his hat and a staff and seemed to be laughing at the group. Naruto heard the man yell something about a princess before he noticed that Jiraiya had scaled the mountain coming up behind the man before kicking him in the back sending him flying. Naruto turned back to see the woman when he noticed a group of people standing there hiding in the snow with cameras and everything.

"Way to go Ero-Sennin." Naruto sighed before he too went down the mountain to rejoin his perverted teacher before he could do anymore damage. "It was only for a movie."

Fujimi Yuki, the great and popular actress of the hit movies "Adventures of the Unlucky Princess" was cold, tired and annoyed. Somehow she had let her manager Sandayu convince her to come back to this blasted country so they could shoot the next movie in the series. She had been against it at the beginning but the director of the movie had pleaded with her that a snow theme in the movie would be fantastic and so she had agreed. Yuki no Kuni held so many bad memories for her but she refused to accept what had happened in the past. She would do the movie and then she would leave this place never to return.

So when they had arrived by boat and the director had seen the beautiful snowy and icy mountains he deemed them perfect for the scene where her character confronted her arch enemy, Maou. Frankly she couldn't care less where they did the scene so she just agreed. So here she was acting out her scene with extraordinary talent just like she always did when all of the sudden a man jumped out of nowhere kicking her colleague in the back.

'What the…?" She thought. 'This wasn't in the script.'

Before she could turn to the director asking what was going on the strange man dressed in red and with long white hair appeared in front of her taking her hand before kneeling. She was so shocked that she didn't resist and couldn't utter a single word. The two men with her were scared shitless and had already started running at the sight of Jiraiya.

"Fear not my beautiful princess." Jiraiya said gallantly. "Your prince charming will protect you from evil."

"Who the hell are you?" She finally managed to say.

"I am the protector of women, idol of many and master of Toads." Jiraiya started doing his little introduction.

Just then a loud voice yelling "CUT" sounded through the valley making Jiraiya looking up and behind the girl only to see the cameras and the crew coming into view. When he was about to comment on their presence Naruto arrived next to him kicking him in the head making him eat snow.

"Ero-Sennin, you idiot." Naruto yelled. "There were only shooting a movie."

"WILL SOMEONE FINALLY TELL WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" The girl shouted loudly.

"I'm very sorry for disturbing your shoot." Naruto apologized. "Ero-Sennin means well but he is a little weird like that."

The director and his assistants were furious that someone had interrupted their scene and on top of that kicked one of their characters unconscious. According to the medic the man would be fine but it would take at least a week for him to completely recover. This was a week that they couldn't afford since they had only counted to be here a few days thus they had only prepared rations and budget for that time. Naruto apologized again and took Jiraiya by the ear and made him apologize as well which he reluctantly did saying that he was sorry for ruining their shot but that he couldn't leave a woman in danger without helping. The bickering continued for another half hour until suddenly two explosions on top of the mountains got everyone's attention, Naruto and Jiraiya foremost. Everyone looked on as a huge avalanche came rolling down towards them.

Naruto and Jiraiya shared a look and sprung into action; Jiraiya ran through some handseals and use the 'Doton: Doryuheki no Jutsu to spit out a huge amount of dirt to create a thick and high wall to stop the snow temporarily. He had to put a lot of chakra into the technique as the force of an avalanche is almost unstoppable. Meanwhile Naruto created enough clones to get everyone into safety on the boat that was anchored not too far from the shore. Jiraiya seeing that everyone was safe jumped back and let the wall crumble under the force of the avalanche.

"Was that part of the movie too?" Naruto asked the crew.

"N-No, I-I don't know what happened." The director stammered still shaking.

Naruto and Jiraiya told everyone to stay on the boat while they went to check it out. They quickly reached the shore and were on guard; if this wasn't part of the movie than someone else was behind these explosions and that meant that they wanted to take the life of the crew. It could be some thugs or as much as a few Missing Nin. At first glance they didn't find any enemies but when they ventured a bit farther something or someone jumped out from the snow beneath them.

Jiraiya, not for nothing considered one of the strongest shinobi alive, easily managed to evade the blow aimed at his face before he retaliated with a kick that his enemy blocked by putting both his arms in front of him before jumping back. Naruto had a bit more trouble as he was caught off guard and a large metal hand nicked him in the shoulder but it was a superficial wound that would be healed thanks to his regenerative powers. He quickly grabbed his attacker by the arm and threw him away so he could see who had attacked him. Both Jiraiya and Naruto didn't have the chance to counter attack as someone called out 'Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki no Jutsu' and a swarm of birds made of ice flew at them. Jiraiya and Naruto didn't even have to look at each other to decide the same thing and both of them used 'Katon: Goukakyuu No Jutsu' to melt the incoming attack without much trouble.

The steam created from when the Fire Jutsu melted the Ice Jutsu allowed Naruto to make several clones and send them to the boat to protect the crew. It was obvious now that they were dealing with shinobi so things might get messy. When the steam dissipated Naruto and Jiraiya could see three figures standing there; one was a girl with pink hair (which made Naruto wonder if she was related to Sakura), a large man with a metal hand and an another man with light purple hair in a ponytail. All three of them seemed to wear some kind of armor and had a headband that Naruto hadn't seen before.

* * *

Yes, it's already the end for this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I know some people might wonder why I choose to use the plot of the first movie during the timeskip. Well, to be honest I think it's the best movie of Naruto I've seen so far and I really like the story. I plan to change a lot of it though and so far it won't exceed one chapter so no worries about dragging this out. After that we'll probably have a little timeskip during training before we see some more adventure of Naruto. I'll see what I can do to make it exciting and enjoyable for everyone. See you all in two weeks.


	43. Chapter 43: Yuki No Kuni

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the next chapter of this story. First of all I would like to apologize for the delay of the chapter. Unfortunately, I had to spend the whole weekend without internet (the horror) as my connection went haywire. Luckily it was easily fixed once I contacted my provider but still. Anyway here's the chapter and I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Chapter 43: Yuki No Kuni

Naruto and Jiraiya looked at the three shinobi standing in front of them and they both knew that this meant trouble. No doubt these were Snow Ninja meaning they had the advantage as they would be fighting on their own home turf. They were used to fighting in the snow and had specialized jutsu like the one the girl used before while Naruto and Jiraiya didn't know those jutsu. Sure they would be able to use Suiton and Katon jutsu just fine.

"I should have know that the princess would hire some bodyguards." The man with the ponytail said.

Naruto and Jiraiya didn't react to what the man said. They didn't want to be caught off guard so they kept focused on the enemy in front of them. On the ship the director immediately ordered his cameraman to keep filming saying they might be able to use the footage later on in the movie.

"Let me guess." The man said laughing. "She didn't tell you her true name did she? You're protecting her without know who she really is, how admirable of you. The woman you're protecting is none other than the princess of Yuki no Kuni, Koyuki."

Naruto and Jiraiya looked at each other before turning to the ship where said girl was glaring at the snow shinobi. It was clear that she wasn't happy about being revealed as the princess from the glare. Both Konoha shinobi shrugged and turned back to their adversaries. They didn't care about who the girl was; all they knew is that the three in front of them wanted to hurt innocent people and so they must be stopped.

"Not impressed huh?" the man with the ponytail said with a smirk. "Doesn't matter to us anyway; we'll just take the princess and leave." With that the large man with the metal hand like thingy took something from behind his back and threw it on the snow. Naruto and Jiraiya immediately took a stance and looked on as how the large man jumped on a board before it started to move. In less than a second the man shot forward at great speed headed straight to Naruto. The blonde didn't have the time to block the arm that slammed into him and was send flying only to crash into the snow several feet further. Jiraiya wasn't too worried though as he knew that Naruto wouldn't go down that easily. Besides he had more urgent worries as the remaining two were head for him.

Naruto got to his feet still woozy from the hit but otherwise fine; he had suffered little damage and the snow had softened the landing considerably. He shook his head clear and looked for his opponent who just appeared behind him still moving on that board. This time Naruto saw him coming and managed to jump over the blow but before he could retaliate the man was already out of reach.

'Whatever that board is, it's fast.' Naruto thought impressed.

The man zipped by time and time again and managed to hit Naruto a few times. Naruto was getting annoyed at the cowardly attacks and planned to put a stop to it right now. He had noticed that the man used a pattern to attack him. He always started attacking from the front, then from behind, then right and finally left before beginning the cycle again. Naruto thought that was pretty stupid to constantly use that pattern but the man didn't seem to be the sharpest kunai in the holster anyway. Naruto watched as the man sped towards him with his arm cocked back and neatly ducked under the punch while spinning around and starting handseals. Knowing that the next attack was coming from behind him he had anticipated that and just when the man was going to hit him Naruto used 'Fuuton: Daitoppa no Jutsu' to blast him away. To his surprise the attack didn't do any damage except blowing the man off his board.

Naruto didn't know how it happened but somehow his attack had done no damage and for some reason he knew that the armor the man was wearing was responsible. Not wanting to take a risk he first took care of that damn board by slicing it in half with his sword. Naruto grinned when he saw the man get angry when he saw what had become of his favorite board. He stormed towards Naruto who immediately noticed that his opponent was much slower than before. Not only that but it seemed that Taijutsu wasn't his best skill as the attacks were sloppy as well giving Naruto no trouble to evade them. Having seen the level of his adversary Naruto decided to retaliate with a quick punch to jaw that hit the man straight on.

Naruto watched as the man stumbled back a bit but that wasn't what was bothering Naruto. It was the surprise that was showing on the snow shinobi's face that raised an eyebrow. It seemed the man was very surprised that the punch had landed in the first place.

"H-how did you get past the Chakra-armor?" The man asked bewildered.

"Chakra-armor? Is that what's it called?" Naruto said quickly capitalizing on the man's obvious lack of intelligence.

"Our armor stops all attacks. It's the pride of Yuki no Kuni and Dotou-sama." The man said rubbing his sore jaw.

"Is it now? By the way, we haven't been introduced yet." Naruto said. "Namikaze Naruto, at your service."

"Fuyaguma Mizore." The now identified Mizore said.

"Why are you after that girl?" Naruto pressed on. For some reason the man didn't seem to understand that he was giving Naruto valuable information.

"Kazahana Koyuki is the niece of Dotou-sama and he needs her to find the treasure of Yuki no Kuni." The man said before he suddenly realized he had said too much.

"Thanks for the information." Naruto smirked before unseal a few throwing knives at Mizore who simple stood there. The knives just bounced of a shield that sprung into action just before they would hit the one they were aimed at. The blonde filed that away for future reference and figured that using his sword would have the same effect. Taijutsu would have to do and he quickly made a few clones and jumped towards Mizore who took a defensive stance. Naruto and his clones dealt out punches like no tomorrow and soon Mizore was taking damage. Mizore stuck out suddenly and destroyed two clones by grabbing one and throwing it into the second one causing both of them do dispel. The remaining clone and the original weren't fazed and while the clone kicked out Mizore's legs from under him Naruto came down on his stomach with a haymaker kick knocking the wind out of the snow shinobi. The clone dispelled as Mizore had crushed him but Naruto didn't care.

"You'll pay for that one." Mizore threatened madly. Before Naruto could do anything the iron hand separated from the rest of Mizore's hand and cleared the distance between the two grabbing Naruto's leg. Mizore laughed loudly before starting to swing around causing Naruto to levitate as well. Picking up speed Naruto was turning rounds in the air, almost making him nauseous. Deciding he had didn't want to be slammed into the hard icy ground he managed to grab a throwing knife and channeled some chakra inside it. With a swift movement he cut the metal rope and flew through the air. He quickly gathered his thoughts and made enough Kage Bunshins to cushion his fall.

Now free he took his sword and destroyed the iron hand still attached to his leg. Mizore looked furious as Naruto had somehow escaped his attack and destroyed his hand on top of that. Naruto prepared for the final attack when all of the sudden Mizore's two companions arrived next to him yelling to retreat. Naruto wondered what was going on and look over only to see Jiraiya grinning like a fool.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked curious.

"Me? I didn't do anything." Jiraiya said smiling. "Well, that's not entirely true. I held them off for a bit but that girl was annoying with her long distance jutsu so I summoned a toad to help me and all of the sudden they went white in the face and ran. "

"They must have realized who they were up against when they saw the toad." Naruto laughed.

"Yes, well that means next time they will try to be sneaky." Jiraiya nodded.

"Next time?" Naruto asked.

"Come on Gaki get with the plan will you?" Jiraiya smirked. "That girl over there is a princess and she's in trouble so we'll volunteer to guard her."

"I'm sensing an ulterior motive here." Naruto said glaring at his sensei. "What's in it for you?"

"Think about it gaki. When women will hear that we helped a princess they'll be so impressed that they have no choice but to love me." Jiraiya laughed loudly.

"I should have known." Naruto said shaking his head at Jiraiya.

* * *

A few hours later everyone was on the boat where Yuki's, now known as Koyuki, assistant Asama Sandayuu explained how the princess had disappeared all those years ago when Dotou killed the reigning king of Snow Country. He told them how for many years everyone thought all hope was lost and how much the people suffered with Dotou as king. He pinked a few tears away when he recounted how he had found Koyuki by coincidence and how he worked his way up to be her personal assistant so he could find a way to get her back to Yuki no Kuni.

"So you used us to get to Yuki?" The director asked somewhat angry at being manipulated like that.

"I'm so sorry, director-sama." Sandayuu said bowing deeply. "It was the only way I could think of. Koyuki-sama would never have accepted otherwise."

"And I shouldn't have accepted in the first place." A feminine voice said from behind them. They all looked at where the voice came from and saw Koyuki standing there looking very annoyed. "Look what it got us; we get attacked by shinobi and almost got ourselves killed." She then turned around and went up the stairs to the deck.

Sandayuu was looking very depressed and slummed into his seat rubbing his head. He knew how much she had changed but he had hoped that being back in her native country would help her become that cheerful little girl he knew all those years ago. Naruto had heard enough and excused himself from the meeting and went to the deck. Luckily the boat wasn't all that big and he found Koyuki standing next to a heater looking at the stars.

"They're beautiful aren't they?" He asked her.

"Huh?" she said surprised as she hadn't heard him get closer. 'damn shinobi and their sneakiness.'

"The stars." He said pointing at the dark sky full of twinkling stars. "Anko-chan and I love spending time on the roof looking at them."

"Who's Anko-chan?" the girl asked. She may be a princess and a famous actress but that didn't mean she didn't like a good gossip or conversation.

"My girlfriend back in Konoha." Naruto replied.

"Do you miss her?" Koyuki asked him.

"Of course; I haven't seen her in months now." Naruto said sadly. "Circumstances forced me to leave the village for a few years but I know she'll be waiting for me till I return."

"I see." Koyuki simply said before turning her head back to the stars. They didn't speak for about ten minutes, they just looked at the stars and enjoyed the view.

"So you're a princess?" Naruto said breaking the silence. "You know, when I was little I always dreamed of saving a princess. I was only later on I realized that princesses are pretty scarce to find."

"Koyuki Kazahana died when she left Yuki no Kuni all those years ago." The girl snapped back at Naruto.

"I find that hard to believe but for now I'll accept that answer." Naruto just placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled before wishing her a good night and walked away.

* * *

The next day the boat docked and the journey continued by vehicles that could drive in the snow. Koyuki had been pissed off that the director had continued to shoot the movie here but in the end there wasn't much she could do about it. Sandayuu had begged her to become the leader of their country and to defeat Dotou but she refused saying that she no longer had any hope for this country and that she wasn't Koyuki Kazahana anymore.

Koyuki was sitting alone in her trailer waiting until the director had found a scenery that pleased him so they could use it in the movie but so far he hadn't found anything. While sitting there she thought back at how she had escaped the country ten years ago and how she had survived. She might have been only about 10 years old at the time but she was smart enough to know that her life was in danger so she had to take another identity to protect her. Over time she had completely suppressed her past as a princess and refused to let that past resurface. That was the reason she had been against coming to Yuki no Kuni in the first place. Now that she knew that Dotou needed her to find some kind of hidden treasure she realized the gig was up and she better get away soon before he found her. God knows what would happen if he did.

'Like there's a hidden treasure in this country.' Koyuki thought bitterly. 'Snow and cold that's all there is. Hell, we don't even have spring season here.'

No, the more she thought about it the more getting away seemed the only choice. Somehow she felt hesitant about it but her instinct to survive told her that it was the only option left. She would have to act quickly and travel light if she wanted to get away and she would have to do it before they stopped somewhere. She quickly grabbed her coat and took a look outside only to see endless fields of snow and trees. Suddenly she felt the caravan slow down and realized that it was now or never; she opened the window and jumped. She landed inside a cave and she looked for the exit. Quickly getting to her feet she took off heading towards the trees and hoped she managed to get some distance before they noticed her disappearance. She had only gotten several steps inside the small forest before she heard a voice.

"Going somewhere?" the voice said from above. Koyuki looked up only to see Naruto standing there on a tree branch smiling at her.

"How the hell did you know I was going to run?" Koyuki asked both surprised and pissed that her attempts had been foiled by the blonde.

"Simple; I placed a tracking seal on you last night." Naruto shrugged before jumping down. "Now come on, before you freeze to death."

"I don't want to go back." Koyuki said angry.

Naruto sighed and just grabbed her before putting her over his shoulder and carried her back to the caravan. Koyuki screamed herself hoarse at the treatment she received from Naruto but he didn't listen. He had dealt with stubborn and arrogant clients before so she was just wasting energy. Koyuki though continued to kick and scream all the way while hitting his back with her tiny fists. When they arrived back at the caravan Naruto saw Jiraiya's eyes light up and he started scratching away in his notebook. He was about to kick the perverts ass when all of the sudden tracks appeared from under the snow. Both Jiraiya and Naruto recognized the use of chakra to melt the ice and snow and warned everyone to hide.

"He's coming." Sandayuu yelled before running up the mountain. "Stay hidden; I'll be right back."

Naruto looked at Jiraiya and asked what Sandayuu was up to but Jiraiya didn't know so he only shrugged. It was then that they heard a loud noise coming from the cave and Naruto took Koyuki and told her to hide in her trailer. He also made several clones to protect her and made sure she didn't run again. He returned to Jiraiya's side and they hid themselves from sight so if necessary they could take them by surprise.

A large contraption that Naruto had never seen before rushed out of the cave and came to a screeching halt just past where the crew had put their vehicles. Naruto watched in fascination as a man appeared from the inside and grabbed a microphone from the shinobi with the ponytail.

"Kazahana Koyuki, show yourself." The man shouted out. "Don't you want to greet your uncle?" nobody answered so he continued. "It's a pleasure having you back in our beloved country; we missed you."Naruto could see by the expression on the man's face that he clearly didn't mean those words. He listened on as Dotou continued addressing Koyuki, who kept quiet thanks to the clones.

Dotou's monologue stopped when several cut down trees came down the mountain and impacted against the side of his train. Naruto looked up and saw Sandayuu standing there with several dozen men armed to the teeth with katana and spears. Naruto listened at Sandayuu proclaim victory against Dotou and revenge for killing the kind and beloved king Sousetsu Kazahana, Koyuki's father.

"They're going to get slaughtered." Jiraiya whispered. "They're not going to defeat the man with attacking him here."

"Then we must help them." Naruto whispered back. "We can't let those people die in vain."

Jiraiya sighed at hearing Naruto but then figured that if he helped free this country his reputation would skyrocket. He could already see the women adoring him for freeing them from Dotou's dictatorship. The choice was quickly made and he nodded at Naruto.

"Get ready." He ordered.

Sandayuu and his friend where all dressed up like samurai. They had been part of Sousetsu-sama's private guard and had all rebelled when Dotou had taken control of the country. For years they had tried to defeat him but nothing had worked. They just weren't strong enough to defeat the man's army and his personal shinobi. But now that he had found Koyuki-hime they would prevail; she would bring them victory. After a last proclamation of victory they all stormed down the mountain ready to give their lives in order to free their country from evil.

Dotou smirked at the men that came his way. The bloody fools didn't stand a chance against him; they wouldn't even come close to him thanks to his upgraded train that was filled with weapons. In fact, ever since he had taken control he had been upgrading his army with the latest weaponry available to man. It had taken a few years but now he had everything he wanted except the legendary treasure his brother always talked about. For years Dotou had been listening to his fool of a brother about the hidden treasure that would bring peace and prosperity to Yuki no Kuni.

'Fool, soon I'll have my hands on that treasure.' Dotou thought. 'Then nothing will stop me from becoming the most powerful man in the Elemental Countries.'

He snapped his fingers and instantly the compartments of the train opened up and revealed flanks with a large number of holes in. On top of the compartment stood a small machinery that apparently needed someone to operate it as someone took place behind it. By now Sandayuu and his man were halfway down the mountain still yelling war chants and brandishing their katana. Dotou nodded his head and hundreds of kunai shot out of the holes and machinery. Naruto and Jiraiya jumped into action as they saw this and they landed in between the kunai and Sandayuu and his men.

Both of them slammed their hands in on the frozen ground and yelled out "Doton: Doryuuheki no jutsu". Two large thick walls appeared and blocked the kunai saving the brave men from certain death. Jiraiya and Naruto relaxed and took a deep breath; they had been forced to push a lot of chakra into the jutsu as they had to make the walls from frozen ground which was difficult to shape and manipulate. Still they had made it in time and for that they were grateful.

On the train Dotou cursed as his attack was stopped and he looked at Rouga Nadare who quickly explained who Jiraiya was. Dotou seemed to understand that the man with the long white hair wasn't someone to mess with and once more cursed the interference. He ordered to depart so he could figure out a way to dispose of those dratted shinobi.

Naruto heard the train move and jumped over the wall before running after it. He quickly noticed that while big and slow in the beginning the train accelerated quickly gaining great speed. Seeing that he wouldn't be able to catch up he focused his attention to the bridge up ahead. Grinning he cut a corner and reached the bridge in about the same time as the train. He quickly did some handseals and used 'Katon: Nenchaku Bakuhatsu Hotaru No Jutsu'. The small fireflies attached themselves to the wooden structure of the bridge and when the train passed over it Naruto detonated them. The result was that more than half of the train was swept away into the void and the train buckled from the heavy shock. Naruto cheered but his smile vanished when he saw that the front two compartments separated from the rest of the train and managed to escape the attack. Still he was happy that Dotou wouldn't be able to use this device any time soon.

When Naruto returned to where Jiraiya and the rest where he noticed that Sandayuu sat in the snow with a sad look on his face. His men all had the same look and Naruto wondered what was going on. Maybe Koyuki had once more refused to be their leader or something like that. He asked Jiraiya what was going on and almost fell over when he told him that the men were angry at them for interfering with their fight.

"Why did you interfere?" one of the samurai snapped at Naruto.

"Be glad we did otherwise you would have all died." Naruto said.

"Because of you we won't be able to regain our honor and defeat Dotou." The man yelled.

"What honor is there in dying in a hopeless battle?" Jiraiya asked him. "You didn't stand a chance against that weaponry and even if some of you managed to get close enough you would have been injured and easily defeated."

"Ero-Sennin is right." Naruto said ignoring Jiraiya's glare at him. "You would have died in vain and accomplished nothing. What would become of your loved ones if you sacrificed yourself here?"

Here the man backed down and bowed his head. The two in front of him were right; what would his wife and two small girls have done if the one who provided them with food and money wasn't there anymore. They would have suffered even more than they are now. Naruto smiled at the man happy that he seemed to accept reality but he was very impressed with the way these men were willing to fight for their country. It reminded him of the shinobi in Konoha; they too were willing to lay down their life for the village and Hi no Kuni.

"Thank you for saving our lives Naruto-dono, Jiraiya-dono." Sandayuu said. "But you have to understand our feelings as well. We would gladly give our lives for the sake of Koyuki-hime and our country."

"We do understand but if you're willing to lay down your lives do it in a battle that might chance something." Jiraiya nodded.

"Now do you see why it's useless to fight Dotou?" Koyuki screamed loudly at Sandayuu. "You should just leave this country and start over again. It's isn't worth it."

"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled. "Who are you to belittle the actions of these men? At least they haven't given up like you have. At least they're willing to fight for what they love and cherish. You, who has stopped believing in hope just because you're afraid do not have the right to say things like that."

"How dare you…" Koyuki began but Naruto interrupted her.

"I dare because I understand more than anyone here how they feel." Naruto said. "As a shinobi of Konoha, I would give my life in a heartbeat if it meant saving my loved ones from agony and suffering. I would fight no matter how strong the opponent is to defend my village and everyone living in it. You on the other hand are afraid of what might happen and you keep running away as soon as things get though." Naruto would have continued but Sandayuu grabbed him by the arm and gently shook his head asking him to stop.

"We can't stay here." He said after thanking Naruto. "There's a small village not too far from here where we'll find food and shelter." Everyone agreed and they quickly gathered their possessions and departed for the village.

Half an hour later they reached the small village and Naruto's heart went out to the poor people who lived here. The village reminded him of the village Tazuna and his family lived in before he and his team had defeated Gato. The village was made out of small houses and one road that crossed straight through it. The houses were often not more than four walls with a roof protecting the owners from the wind and snow but other than that they had no luxury at all. All in all it was a typical poor village that suffered at the hands of an evil person.

The people however seemed very happy to see them and gladly welcomed them to their humble homes. Naruto smiled at the young kids and happily agreed to play with them for a while. Meanwhile the rest of the crew and Jiraiya went inside the biggest building of the village. The building was the towns hall where meetings were held and guests were entertained. Koyuki excused herself and went back outside; she wondered a bit while trying not to draw attention to herself before she saw Naruto play in the snow with the kids. She watched as Naruto helped building a large snowman and how they threw snowballs at him. She smiled at the kids' reactions when Naruto used that weird clone jutsu of his. She left soon after before one of the kids or Naruto noticed her and returned to the hall where the others were talking.

* * *

A few hours later she got out of bed and looked outside at the moon. No matter how much she disliked being here she loved the view. While Yuki no Kuni was cold and wet, it was also one of the most beautiful places in the world she thought. Sure she preferred spring and warmth but deep inside she felt the love she had had when she was a little girl. She remembered that once her father had said that one day spring would come to Yuki no Kuni and she wondered what her father had meant by that. While little she had wanted to believe her father but now she knew better; it was impossible to bring spring to Yuki no Kuni.

The next morning Naruto found Koyuki sitting alone on a fence. He felt kind of bad for yelling at her but what she had said really made him angry. It was like the time Hinata talked about quitting as a shinobi when he had just joined the team or Inari giving up as Gato seemed too strong to defeat. Seeing people who gave up that easily just pissed him off; it wasn't that he didn't understand why they were desperate or close to giving up but he couldn't understand why some people gave in that easily. Still he would have to apologize for yelling at her.

"Can I join you?" he asked quietly.

"I guess." Koyuki shrugged.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you before." Naruto apologized. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. While I don't take back the words I said I truly am sorry for saying it like that."

"It's okay. I kind of deserved that." Koyuki admitted. "I just don't understand why they would give their life for this place."

"Sure you do, but you refuse to acknowledge it." Naruto disagreed. "You grew up here right? Well then you must have memories of you and your family living here. Memories of you playing in the snow like those kids are doing now." And he pointed to the kids who played in the field in front of them. "Memories of you and your dad having fun or arguing when he wouldn't give you something you wanted; memories of people who cared for you and loved you." He looked at Koyuki and saw a small tear on her cheek. "You can't keep running away you know."

"Why are you doing this?" Koyuki asked him. "You don't have any ties with this country nor are you getting paid. So why?"

"That's easy. When I grew up I was always alone; you see I wasn't well liked in my village before." Naruto smiled. "I can't tell you the reason why but I can tell you that it was very hard for me. I hated being alone and each day was hell. Don't get me wrong, I had people who helped me but I never had any friends. Then one day I met this amazing girl and everything changed; she taught me everything I know and helped me out of my solitude." Naruto smiled as he remembered meeting Anko for the first time. "But I never forgot those days of loneliness and sadness so that's why, whenever I see someone with the same pain I do everything within my power to help them."

"So is that why you're doing this." Koyuki said amazed. "Just because you think I'm lonely and sad?"

"Aren't you?" Naruto asked her. "Don't answer that; I can tell by looking in your eyes. You're hurting inside but you don't know what to do. You're scared that if you start loving again that you'll get hurt once more." When he saw her nod he continued. "I was the same; it took a lot of courage and help to get passed that but I did it. So there's no reason you can't either."

"But I'm not the same person anymore." Koyuki protested. "I know nothing about being a princess or leading a country. Not to mention I have no idea how to defeat my uncle."

"Koyuki-hime, we have faith in you." A voice said from behind them. Koyuki turned around and saw all the villagers standing there smiling at her. "We believe in you and we know you will take care of us just like your father did." Sandayuu smiled at her.

"Sandayuu…" Koyuki softly said. "I'm not worthy to lead you; I ran away. I…"

"Koyuki-hime, you are our princess. Now and forever, nothing will ever change that." Sandayuu said loudly. "If you lead us nothing, not even Dotou will stop us from winning back our beloved country." With that he kneeled in front of her and bowed until his head hit the snow; one by one everyone in the village, even the children dropped on their knees showing how much they loved their princess and how much they needed her.

"Please don't do that." Koyuki said with teary eyes. "Please everyone get up, you'll never have to bow to me."

"Koyuki-hime, please lead us against Dotou." Sandayuu begged once more.

"But I can't defeat Dotou on my own, or lead a country." Koyuki protested.

"You're not alone Koyuki." Naruto exclaimed loudly. "You already have brave men and women willing to fight for you. They will help you were you need." The crowd shouted out their agreement.

"But what about Dotou's army?" Koyuki said.

"You want an army? I'll give you an army." Naruto said smirking before bringing his hands in a seal. With a shout of 'Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu' the entire village was filled with clones. Even the fields around them were filled with clones. The villagers and Koyuki looked on in shock at seeing so many Naruto's standing there while Jiraiya was laughing his head off. He had stayed quieted until then but now his laughter was sounding through the village.

"You're going to scare them to death if they see the number of men we have." Jiraiya said loudly. "With so many clones, it doesn't matter if Dotou has an army of mercenaries."

"We'll fight as well." Sandayuu said. "We'll gather men at the villages and spread the word."

"But people are going to get hurt or even die." Koyuki argued.

"Then we'll mourn their deaths and celebrate their lives as heroes." Naruto said sternly. "Sometimes you need to fight for what you know is right. This is one of those times, Koyuki."

"Thank you." Koyuki said softly. "I'll try not to let everyone down."

That night everyone in the village partied like never before. The people of Yuki no Kuni had their princess back and they couldn't be happier. Koyuki was approached by everyone, thanking her and praising her. The children adored her even when she was still a little cautious of letting her guard open. They told her stories and asked her to play with them and in the end she helped them build the largest snowman Yuki No Kuni had ever seen. For the first time in years she genuinely smiled and she couldn't believe how good it felt. Naruto watched as she smiled and nodded happily when she looked at him.

* * *

Next chapter will deal with the fight against Dotou and will finish up the adventures Naruto and Jiraiya will have in Yuki no Kuni. After that I don't really have a clue what I'll be doing. Maybe I'll just use a time-skip as I suck at coming up with original contents lol. We'll see. For now I wish you all a good week and see you with the next chapter.


	44. Chapter 44: Rebellion

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone and welcome back to this story. First of all I wish everyone a happy Easter. Second I wish to thank you all for the reviews and reading of my story.

Not much to say except that there won't be a chapter in two weeks as I have exams of the courses I took for my job. I really need to pass these so I'll be focused to on studying for next weeks. Not to worry the next chapter will be post on schedule after that. It will also have a timeskip further into Naruto's training though I'm not certain how far.

**I've been having thoughts about writing a story with a female Naruto. Lately a few stories have caught my eye featuring a male Naruto that gets transformed into a girl by some sort of interference (like Orochimaru messing with the seal, or Kyuubi). I especially like EroSlackerMicha's story 'He said, She said' in that genre. Just to make things different my story would be with a female born Naruto. so NO transformation from boy to girl or anything like that. The pairing would be Yuri and most possibly be with a female Haku. No harem. If you would like to read such a story please vote in the poll above and i'll start writing on it. Beware even if I start writing I won't post as often as my other two stories as those have my full attention. So if this story gets publisched it will have slow updates. Vote in the poll on my profile page.  
**

Anyway enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 44: Rebellion

It had been two weeks since Naruto and Jiraiya had arrived at Yuki no Kuni and met Koyuki and her movie crew. It had been almost two weeks since they had arrived at the village where they were staying now. The village now served as headquarters of the resistance however and many men and women had gathered to help in the fight. In fact word had gotten around that Koyuki had returned and was preparing to launch an attack against Dotou. The result of these rumors was that from all over the country people had taking up arms against Dotou and his men causing no small amount of irritation for the current leader of the country.

The change in the people of Yuki no Kuni from meek and obeying to rebellious wasn't the only change that Naruto noticed over the past two weeks. No, the biggest change of all was without a doubt Koyuki herself. When he had met her she was a self-centered and arrogant girl only running away from her past and responsibilities; that had changed however once she received the 'Naruto-speech™'. Now Koyuki was issuing orders and preparations for the fight and when she wasn't doing that she was either playing with the kids (here Naruto thought it was to make up for her own youth) and consulting with Sandayuu and other elders about ruling the country and her instatement as the leader of Yuki no Kuni. Naruto smirked knowing that Dotou, who expected a weak and fragile princess would have the surprise of his life when she kicked him from the throne.

* * *

Speaking of Dotou, the man was getting very irritated lately. It had started with Rouga Nadare reporting that while they had confronted Koyuki the moment she arrived in Yuki no Kuni and tried to bring her with them, two shinobi had come with her and one of them was a very strong and legendary shinobi. Personally he had never heard of Jiraiya, the Toad Sennin but if Nadare was that hesitant to go against him in battle the man must be strong to say the least. Then came Mizore, who complained for hours that his favorite board was cut in half. Dotou didn't care two cents about that stupid board but what bothered him was that it was so easily destroyed in the first place. That board was made out of the toughest material he could get his hands on and for it to be destroyed in such a way was disturbing to say the least. It was however the last report that one of his men had delivered that really pushed his buttons.

Koyuki was apparently leading a rebellion against him. According to the report, men and women had gathered from all the country and started preparing to assault him in his own home. He had a good laugh about it as his fortress was one of the most protected and armed ever build. He had been forced to pay a lot of money for it but most of it came from his people anyway. If they were so stupid to think that they could defeat him in his own home they had another thing coming he thought.

"Nadare, I want you to prepare for battle." Dotou ordered.

"Are we going to attack the village where Koyuki-sama is preparing?" Nadare asked.

"No, we'll let them come and crush them once and for all." Dotou explained. "When they are defeated the rest of people will finally understand who's the true ruler of Yuki no Kuni."

"As you wish." Nadare said before disappearing as he knew what to do.

"Enjoy the time you have left Koyuki-hime." Dotou laughed. "Because once I crush you and your army nothing will stop me from becoming the ultimate ruler of the world."

* * *

In the village Jiraiya and the men were making battle plans. It wasn't enough just to have a lot of manpower as Dotou would no doubt have a lot of mercenaries at his disposal. No what they needed was a plan that would allow them to deal lots of damage without too much risk of losing lives. Jiraiya knew he and Naruto wouldn't have any trouble with a few mercenaries but these men were no fighters. Apart from Sandayuu's men, all of them were fishermen and workers. Their heart was in the right place but if they just let them walk into battle they would get slaughtered.

"What do you know about Dotou's fortress?" Jiraiya asked Sandayuu and his men.

"Well, it used to belong to the Kazahana Family for generations but Koyuki's father didn't like the place and moved out into a smaller mansion." One of the men said.

"Dotou restored it to its former glory after it had fallen into decay." Sandayuu nodded. "Not only that he equipped it with the latest weapons in warfare."

"Hmmm, that might pose a problem." Jiraiya remarked. "Do you have a layout of the thing? You know any secret passages?" These kind of places always had secret entrances and exits just to ensure the safety of those who lived there in time of trouble.

"I'm sorry but I haven't been inside." Sandayuu sadly said. "But I might be able to find some people who worked for Koyuki's grandparents. They might remember the place."

"Good, you do that and the rest of us will try to find a way to attack that fortress from the outside." Jiraiya nodded.

"Why do we need to attack? Won't he come after us?" One of the men asked.

"No, he has no need to leave his place." Jiraiya explained. "He knows he has the advantage there and he also knows that we'll come for him. If he left his fortress he would lose a massive defensive position for little gain."

"I see." The men said dejected. They suddenly realized that things had gotten a lot harder all of the sudden.

"Don't despair just yet." Jiraiya smiled. "If we somehow might be able to get inside we might be able to cause a lot of trouble and damage."

"I'll get right on searching those elders." Sandayuu said with renewed hope.

While Jiraiya was working on the plans Naruto was busy explaining how to effectively fight to the others. One problem was that they had little to no weapons so faced to mercenaries with swords and the like was going to be very dangerous. Therefore Naruto and Jiraiya would take care of those first while the other came in afterwards and captured the mercenaries or buried the bodies. But just because they wouldn't be the one to dispose of the mercenaries didn't mean they didn't need some kind of instructions.

"See, if you tie your prisoner up like this." Naruto said showing them how to tie the special knot. "He won't be able to get loose, especially not when he's hurt."

The men nodded and eagerly started practicing with a piece of rope. They practiced on each other as well and Naruto asked the one that was going to be tied up to struggle a little to make it even more realistic. He also told the men that once they had defeated the mercenaries it was up to them to disarm and guard them so that they could be turned out to the authorities later on. He gladly told them that everything they managed to take from them they could keep as the spoils of war.

Once they all mastered the rope tying exercise Naruto moved on to explain the vital areas of the human body. At first he didn't want to teach them that as these men weren't fighters but he realized that there might came a time when one of them was faced with a situation where he needed to take a life so better to explain it to them. He did tell them that he didn't expect them to become fighters and he assured them that he and Jiraiya would do their best to make sure they wouldn't be needed to kill.

"Why wouldn't you want us to kill?" One man said confused. "We're willing to do whatever it takes to free our country."

"Yeah." Some other joined in.

"I'm not questioning or doubting your willingness to do whatever it takes." Naruto said. "But ending a person's life changes you; believe me I know. I want you to spare the pain of that."

"But your just a kid." Someone yelled. "Why are you capable of killing without problem."

"Trust me when I say that killing someone troubles me." Naruto said a bit angry at the 'kid' remark. "But I'm a shinobi, this is what I'm trained for."

Soon after that the discussion ended and they practiced the moves on each other with fake knives or kunai. Those kunai had actually been from Dotou's train; Naruto had made a few clones and ordered them to pick up all the kunai that those machines had thrown. They were perfectly usable kunai and Naruto had sealed most of them in a scroll but had given each men two kunai to wield in battle. A kunai wouldn't do much against a sword if they actually had to fight but it would do for guarding the prisoners.

Koyuki on her side was still meeting with some of the people who had worked with her father. She wanted to know what this 'treasure' was that Dotou was searching for. She had no recollection of her father ever mentioning a treasure in Yuki no Kuni. The elders had no idea either so she turned to her father's former staff but so far no luck. No one knew anything about a treasure and Koyuki was seriously starting to question her uncle's sanity. Maybe this was all a fantasy in his head.

* * *

Later that night Jiraiya called Naruto to him so they could discuss what they had done that day. Jiraiya explained that he was hoping to get his hands on a complete lay-out of the fortress or at least a partial layout that would enable them to get inside. So far all he had was a few vague descriptions that didn't help at all as most of them contradicted the others. Naruto explained what he had taught the men and Jiraiya approved completely.

"How many mercenaries does Dotou have under his command?" Naruto asked.

"We don't have an exact number but I'm guessing several dozen." Jiraiya answered. "The real question is will Dotou hire any Missing-Nin?"

"He already has his snow shinobi so I doubt it." Naruto said. "Did the ones you fought also had that strange armor?"

"Yeah, I was wondering about that myself." Jiraiya admitted. "I tried a simple Katon jutsu and it didn't go through. Kunai the same, they just bounced off a force field."

"Same with mine." Naruto nodded. "That's going to be trouble isn't it?"

"We'll worry about it when we face them, there's nothing we can do now." Jiraiya said. "If Ninjutsu doesn't work we still have other possibilities available."

"Do you think that shield is automatic or do they have to focus some chakra to it?" Naruto wondered loudly.

"You mean like Gaara's ultimate defense with his sand?" Jiraiya asked. "That's a good point. If I had to guess I would say they have to focus chakra when they want the armor to work otherwise the armor would be active all the time."

Man, you sure gave us a lot of work just because you think that girls will flock to you." Naruto complained. "That's so you Ero-Sennin."

"Shut up, Gaki." Jiraiya said bonking Naruto on the head. "How can you not understand what this will do for our reputation? The girls will go wild once they hear that we saved an entire country."

"I don't care about that; I have a girlfriend remember." Naruto said rubbing his head.

"Well then, imagine how Anko will react when she hears about this." Jiraiya said already picturing how dozens of women would fall at his feet.

"She'll probably punch me in the face for doing something like this." Naruto said with a smile as he thought about Anko. He left Jiraiya as he was already scribbling in his notepad as inspiration had kicked in. Naruto walked a bit around the village before looking up at the moon and thinking about what his girlfriend might be doing at this very same time.

* * *

In Konoha, Anko sneezed several times making Kurenai ask her if she was getting sick. Anko denied that she felt sick and said that it was probably just some dust. Kurenai joked that it might be that someone is talking about her. Anko laughed saying it had better not be the two perverts that were leering at the two of them from the other side of the bar or else she would have to make sure they never dared look at her again. Kurenai agreed and ordered another bottle of sake and they returned to their previous conversation.

* * *

Over the next few days everyone in the village was practicing and preparing for battle. Women were making medicine and first aid kits out of whatever they could find and also preparing enough food for the fighters to last a while. This was important as hungry fighters usually turned out to be dead fighters. It was also a way for the women to be involved since they wouldn't be fighting and still contribute to the freeing of their country. In his 'warroom' Jiraiya was peering over a set of blueprints of Dotou's fortress. Jiraiya thanked his lucky stars that one man's family albeit several generations ago, had designed the place and they still had the plans. He realized though that they couldn't count one hundred percent on those plans as most likely the interior had been redone over the years but the original lay-out would still be preserved in some case. Here the descriptions of the other helped verify what had changed and what hadn't and thanks to that Jiraiya had a good idea of what the building was like on the inside.

"Hmm, if we manage to destroy the weaponry on the walls and their supply of weapons, we would deliver a heavy blow to Dotou." Jiraiya mused.

"But how are you going to get inside?" Sandayuu said. "You might be a ninja but even you would be spotted when trying to get in."

"That's not a problem." Jiraiya said waving Sandayuu's concern away. "I was thinking to use the well that go from the river to the fortress' dungeon."

"That's crazy." Sandayuu shouted. "The freezing water would kill you even if you could hold your breath long enough."

"Please have a little bit more faith in my abilities." Jiraiya said coldly. He understood the man's reservations but they wouldn't get nowhere if the man kept interrupting and complaining all the time. "I assure you getting inside is not a problem."

"But the well isn't big enough to pass a grown man." Another said doubting.

"That's true but I'm not the one who will be going." Jiraiya said smiling. "Naruto will take that job."

"You're sending a child inside Dotou's fortress?" the men said surprised. "You'll get him killed."

"Again, stop underestimating us." Jiraiya said annoyed. "Naruto is a shinobi and a good one at that. This will give him little or no trouble, besides it needs to be done. The fortress is too strong to just attack it from the outside. Tonight he'll infiltrate and prepare some nasty surprises for Dotou and his men."

Sandayuu and his men didn't look convinced but in the end Jiraiya was firm and they agreed but under protest. Once they said their part they moved on the attacks from the outside and how they would deal with the mercenaries. Jiraiya had been on several of such missions before in his long career as a shinobi and he had a pretty good guess what Dotou was going to do. No doubt the man would send out enough men to weaken them at first before sending his shinobi to defeat him and Naruto. Well, the man was up for a bad day because they would be ready.

Later that night, at around eleven pm, Naruto was preparing to infiltrate the fortress. He still had no idea how he would actually manage that but Ero-Sennin said he had that covered. He checked his equipment one last time although he really hoped that he wouldn't need it. The aim of this infiltration was to place a few surprises undetected so that Dotou wouldn't get suspicious. If he had to dispose of some guards they would be missed and Dotou would know his home had been compromised. Seeing that he had everything he needed he went outside where Jiraiya was waiting for him.

"You got the map memorized Gaki?" Jiraiya asked him.

"Of course, no worries Ero-Sennin." Naruto nodded. "Now, tell me how I'm going to get inside."

"Stand back." He said to everyone who was there before doing some handseals and summoned a large toad. "This is Gamauchi. He's a special toad that can transport people by swallowing them and then reducing his size."

"Wow, that's so cool." Naruto said impressed. The other seemed mildly disgusted and Koyuki was looking at the Toad with a bit of fear and revolt but she kept quiet. Shinobi were weird like that she knew.

"Alright Gamauchi, we need you to swim upstream in the river and enter the pipeline that connects the river to the well." Once there you need to enlarge yourself to let Naruto out and wait for him there." The toad nodded and opened his mouth to let Naruto inside. Naruto thanked the toad for helping them and walked with Jiraiya inside the toad.

Surprisingly it wasn't all that bad; he could easily walk inside and Jiraiya assured him that he had nothing to fear as he was a recognized signer of the Toad Contract. Jiraiya left wishing him good luck and once outside Gamauchi's body got smaller until he was about the size of a fist and jumped into the river.

"That's got to be to freakiest thing I've ever seen." One of the men said amazed. "You shinobi have the weirdest abilities."

"Naruto is going to be okay, right?" Koyuki asked concerned.

"Don't worry about the Gaki, he'll be back in a few hours." Jiraiya said before going to the house to get some rest.

* * *

Naruto had no idea how long he was sitting on the soft flesh that was Gamauchi's insides but it didn't feel like very long. The trip had been very pleasant so far; he didn't feel a thing coming from the outside so his guess as to where he was, was as good as any. He wondered what other kind of Toads were out there with special powers. If he still was that Naruto from during his time at the academy he would have loved having allies like that. The number of pranks he could have done would have been endless. He would have been a legend by the he graduated he figured but then he remembered that as an academy student he just sucked at just about everything that was important and he doubted he truly wanted the reputation of being a prankster. Suddenly light entered where he was sitting and he figured that they had arrived at the well. Making his way over to the toad's mouth he saw the bricks and stones from the well and crawled out of the toad using chakra to stand on the water.

"Thanks Gamauchi, wait here for me please." Naruto whispered softly before climbing out of the well.

He peaked over the edge just to make sure nobody was standing guard or anything but all he saw was an empty room. He quickly and silently jumped out of the well and took out one of his special storage scrolls before unsealing everything inside it. A small 'poof' later a large number of exploding tags of all sizes were laying before him and he grinned at the destruction they would cause. Koyuki had told he that he didn't need to hold back as she had no attachment to the place what so ever and that she would rather see it gone. These exploding tags were a new creation that he and Ero-Sennin had made over the past two months. They had a new seal added which made them self detonating after a certain amount of time. A normal tag would explode several seconds after begin activated but these new ones could be set anywhere in time from five minutes to up to twenty-four hours later. The bad part was that they weren't as powerful as the normal tags but that was easily helped but putting more than one at the same place. He divided the tags into about twenty packets before using Kage Bunshin No jutsu.

"Okay guys listen up, we're going to rig this place with these tags to cause the maximum amount of damage possible." Naruto ordered. "Each one of you will take a packet of ten tags and place them in your designated area. Careful not to be noticed and don't take any risks. If it's too dangerous to place the tag, abort and choose another location. Once you placed all your tags, dispel. Understood?"

"Understood." The clones whispered before each taking a packet. Naruto then give each of them a location and they hurried off.

The real Naruto wouldn't just sit there and wait of course so he too grabbed a few tags and crept out of the dungeon. He knew exactly where he was thanks to the blueprints Jiraiya had made him study and he headed for the place where the armory was located. He slowly made his way over, careful not to make any sound and avoiding the guards that were patrolling the area. So far he had only encountered two of them and they were fast asleep making his job even easier. After two dead ends and a wrong turn he finally made it to the armory and silently opened the door after checking for any guards.

'Dotou must be really confident if he doesn't bother putting guards here.' Naruto thought. 'Well, so much the better for us.'

Once inside Naruto was astonished at the number of different weaponry he found. The large storage room was filled to the brim with the same kind of weapons he had seen on that train thingy. He quickly placed some tags on all of them before moving on to the next contraptions. This one looked like something that was able to fling large objects through the air over great distances. Thinking it wouldn't do to have to fight something like that he placed several more tags on all of the machines. Then he found large amounts of spear, kunai, swords and just about every thinkable weapon.

'Wow, is he planning to take on every country there is?' Naruto thought amazed. 'Too bad I can't take everything with me. If they come in here earlier than expected and see that everything's gone the jig would be up.'

Suddenly he heard a sound and he jumped up to the ceiling and covered himself with his camouflage. The door opened and two guards looked inside before leaving once more. Luckily for Naruto they were just thugs and no shinobi as he would surely have been discovered then. Not wanting to take another risk he planted the rest of his tags and made his way back to the well. Soon one by one the clones dispersed alerting him that they had completed their job. He waited for the last clone to 'pop' and he asked Gamauchi to take him back to the village. All in all the mission only took about two hours.

"How did it go?" Koyuki and Jiraiya asked as soon as he got back.

"It went perfectly." Naruto grinned. "In about ten hours Dotou is going to have to find a new place to live."

"Excellent." Jiraiya laughed. "The troops are ready to move out at dawn so that give us more than enough time to get some rest and travel to the battlefield."

"Man, I wish I could see Dotou's face when his precious fortress gets demolished." Naruto said smiling and Koyuki had the same grin on her face. With that thought they all went to bed trying to get some sleep before the final battle.

* * *

"Dotou-sama, the villagers are approaching." One of the hired thugs said screaming.

"Relax, what time is it?" Dotou said not worried about anything.

"It's 9h45 am, Sir." The guard said nervously. He had heard about Dotou hating to be disturbed during the morning.

"Excellent, hopefully we'll have this mess resolved by noon." Dotou said clapping his hands. "Sound the alarm and gather the men. We'll wait for them in front of the fortress."

"Yes, sir." The guard said before hurrying away to gather the troops.

"Are you sure that's wise Dotou-sama?" Nadare asked. "Wouldn't it be better for you to be safe inside the fortress."

"Nonsense, I'll have you know that I'm not afraid of a few peasants with pitchforks and kitchen utensils." Dotou spat at Nadare. "Don't question my orders. The three of you should prepare as well; you have two shinobi to worry about."

"Yes, Dotou-sama." Nadare said feeling very nervous about facing one of the Sannin. His two consorts weren't feeling any happier about that either.

* * *

The villagers accompanied by Sandayuu and every remaining samurai, Jiraiya and Naruto were steadily approaching the battlefield. Even Koyuki had come with them saying that she had no intention of letting her people fight while she was safely guarded several miles away. Naruto and Jiraiya had protested at first but in the end they had to agree as they didn't get anywhere close to convincing the woman to do otherwise.

The men were all nervous and afraid but they weren't backing out. This was their battle, the battle that would free their country and family from Dotou's reign and they weren't about to give up and run away. They were reassured by the fact that the two shinobi would be taking care of the mercenaries as much as possible. When the fortress came into view the reality of the battle hit them hard but they were still there and Naruto respected them for it.

"Seems like I was right about the number of mercenaries." Jiraiya said when he spotted several dozen men standing at the other side of the field. Naruto nodded and saw Dotou standing there on a small pedestal looking at them.

"Seems like he has something to say." Naruto pointed at Dotou who had a microphone in his hands.

"KOYUKI-HIME, IT SEEMS AS YOU HAVE MADE THE FOOLISH DECISION TO OPPOSE ME." Dotou's voice sounded loudly through the air. "COMMENDABLE BUT STUPID. YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST ME AND MY MEN. WHY DON'T YOU SAFE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND SURRENDER RIGHT NOW."

Koyuki snorted very un-princess like and scribbled something on a piece of paper before asking for a bow and arrow. She quickly bound the piece of paper to the arrow and shot it in Dotou's direction. She wasn't a bad aim it seemed as Nadare had to pluck it out of the air. He handed the paper to Dotou who unfolded it and read it. On it was a small figure of Koyuki sticking out her tongue and her right middle finger up in the air and a small text balloon with the works 'FUCK YOU' written on it. Dotou threw the paper on the ground in anger and grabbed the microphone once more.

"YOU ASKED FOR IT." Dotou yelled and gave the order for the first group of mercenaries to attack.

The mercenaries, who were promised money, treasure and a pick of women stormed forward with a huge battle cry. Incidentally, Dotou had 'forgotten' to mention that the opposite side had two shinobi in their ranks otherwise most of them would have refused to fight for him. As it was they were still unaware of that little fact and with their sight set on killing, plundering and enjoying themselves they crossed the distance between the two groups. When they had made it halfway there Naruto and Jiraiya intervened.

"TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU" Naruto yelled out making the seals and soon the field was filled with clone easily outnumbering the mercenaries three to one. Jiraiya leaped forward to right in front of the mercenaries and went through a few handseals before yelling out "DOTON: YOMI NUMA".

The result was instantaneous; a large swamp appeared right in front of the mercenaries who were incapable to stop in such short notice. The first two dozen men disappeared into the mud never to be seen again. The remaining mercenaries stared in horror at what had happened and started to regret taking the job. They didn't get much time to think as clones rained down upon them knocking them out or if they were unlucky killing them. A few clones stayed at Koyuki's side to protect her from harm.

When he saw he first platoon of mercenaries getting slaughtered Dotou ordered the next group forward. The mercenaries looked at him like he had grown an extra head. The man was kidding right? One of them asked him if he was serious and paid for it with a kunai to the head courtesy of Nadare.

"You either fight or I'll kill you all myself right here." He threatened. "Your choice."

The men gulped and cursed Dotou for all that was worth before doing as they were told. If they were lucky they might survive and some of them even considered surrendering immediately. Of course there were some that thought they might make a name for themselves by killing a shinobi but those were the disillusioned ones.

From all of Naruto's clones half remained, mostly because they got caught in the onslaught of Jiraiya's fighting. The man was having a great time knocking out thugs and killers. He only used Taijutsu for the moment as he wanted to spare his chakra for the fight with the Snow shinobi. The new mob of mercenaries seemed less enthusiastic and didn't offer much resistance when push came to shove. Heck, some of them feinted being knocked down or just surrendered. Those guys were quickly taking care of by the villagers who were happy to have something to do.

"Oi Gaki, what time is it?" Jiraiya asked while kicking one unfortunate thug right between the legs.

"It's 10h55, Ero-Sennin." Naruto grinned back. "Let's get back so we can enjoy the firework." Some of the thugs heard this as well and wondered what the hell the blonde was talking about.

"I'll be right there." And Jiraiya knocked the remaining two thugs out.

Dotou, who was helplessly watching his army getting decimated by two shinobi saw the two retreat and briefly wondered if they had given up but he shook his head. They had just disposed of his army without too much trouble so why would they retreat? He blinked when he saw everyone take out a blanket and sitting down on it looking his way.

"What the hell is going on?" he roared at Nadare who was just as surprised.

Nadare was about to answer when several loud explosions came from behind him. He quickly turned around and looked in shock as one explosion after the other destroyed the fortress. Dotou couldn't believe what was happening; his home was being destroyed right in front of him. His precious fortress, the future centre of his empire was being blown to smithereens. When the final explosion ended all that was left was a large ruin full of rubble.

"No, this isn't happening." Dotou stammered falling on his knees in the snow. Years of planning and hard work destroyed in mere minutes; this had to be a nightmare. Surely he would wake up screaming before realizing it was all a bad dream.

"Dotou-sama, are you alright?" Nadare asked his master.

"KILL THEM." Dotou screamed angry. "KILL THEM ALL."

On the other side of the field everyone was clapping and celebrating the destruction of Dotou's fortress.

"Man, that was awesome." Naruto said. "I counted 67 explosions. You?"

"I counted 62." Koyuki happily said.

"69." Jiraiya said. "But those two were really small ones."

"How mad do you think he is right now?" Naruto said looking at Dotou's direction.

"On a scale from 1 to 10, I would say about a 100" Koyuki said loudly before starting to laugh causing everyone to join in the laughter.

"It's not over yet." Jiraiya said seriously. "There's till those Snow shinobi to deal with."

"Not to mention Dotou himself." Naruto nodded. Just then they heard him yelling the order to kill them all and the group tensed once more. Naruto quickly made several Kage Bunshin the protect Koyuki and ordered everyone to retreat. Koyuki protested but Naruto was firm this time; he didn't want her anywhere near the battle that would come. Koyuki saw his concern and agreed before telling everyone to fall back to give Naruto and Jiraiya room.

Mizore, Fubuki and Nadare jumped forward and made their way over to Naruto and Jiraiya. They didn't feel very confident and honestly they wanted nothing more than to get the hell away but they wouldn't and couldn't betray Dotou-sama. They stopped just in front of them and held their head high.

"You three show some real guts." Jiraiya said smirking. "Knowing who I am and still wanting to face me in battle."

"It's not a matter of wanting to face you." Nadare said. "Our honor as shinobi is at stake. We can't run away from battle just because our opponent is one of the Legendary Sannin."

"Suit yourself." Jiraiya said before doing handseals at great speed and using a Katon jutsu. That marked the start of the battle and Nadare and Fubuki teamed up together against Jiraiya while Mizore wanted a chance to pay Naruto back for destroying his favorite board.

Naruto grinned and wasted no time as well. He did some handseals as well before touching two seals on his arms and legs. Those seals were improvements of his father's gravity seals; ones that were easier to activate and deactivate when needed. Ever since the start of his training with Jiraiya he had been forced to wear them and this was the first time he deactivated them in battle. Jiraiya wanted him fast enough to compete with Lee but Naruto thought that was a bit unrealistic. He would be glad to have a speed closely resembling Lee's.

Mizore's eyes widened when Naruto seemingly vanished from before his eyes only to have them bulge out when a knee impacted on the back of his head. The blow had hurt but didn't do any lasting damage. He turned around only to find nothing before a fist connected from his right side making him stumble to his side. He cursed and looked for Naruto once more and saw a few kunai heading his way. He quickly activated his chakra armor and they harmlessly bounced of the shield. He grinned but a kick to his knee from behind him made him yell out in pain.

"It seems I was right." Naruto said when he appeared in front of Mizore. "You have to focus Chakra into the armor when you want a shield to form. If you see the attack coming you have no problem making the shield but I bet it's taxing to do so. That's why you guys don't have the shield active all the time. In other words" Naruto vanished again and stabbed Mizore in the shoulder before he could raise the shield. "if you don't have the time or you don't see the attack coming, then the shield is useless."

"P-please, don't hurt me." Mizore said understanding that he had no chance against the blond.

"What did you do when the people of Yuki no Kuni pleaded for help and mercy." Naruto said angry. "I'll show you the same courtesy you've shown them."

"No, p-please." Mizore begged before turning around and trying to get away.

Naruto unsheathed his sword and caught up with Mizore before stabbing the men through the heart. He still hated killing but he knew it needed to be done so that the people of Yuki no Kuni would be truly free. He cleaned his sword before sheathing it and turned to look at how Jiraiya was doing. When he turned towards Jiraiya he noticed a figure moving towards where Koyuki and the villagers were waiting for them. He recognized the figure as Dotou and noticed that the man was wearing the same kind of armor as the three Snow shinobi. He realized that Dotou was trying to take advantage of them being occupied and hurried over hoping he would get there in time.

Koyuki and the rest too noticed Dotou heading for them and they prepared for battle. They had no doubt that Dotou would kill them all for destroying his fortress and opposing his reign. Koyuki stood bravely when Dotou landed in front of her looking very pissed off.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" He said coldly.

"I stopped a tyrant from destroying this country." Koyuki said looking Dotou in the eyes. "If you had been half the man my father was you might have been a decent man but it's clear you're nothing but a egotistical, self-centered bastard who thinks he could rule the world."

"Hah, half the man your father was?" Dotou laughed. "Your father was a fool and an idiot. He knew there was an immense treasure buried in Yuki no Kuni and yet he refused to use it, saying the time wasn't right yet."

"My father was the kindest and carrying man I've ever known." Koyuki said defending her father. "And what treasure are you speaking of; I've never heard of it before."

"Seeing as I'm going to kill you, I might as well tell you." Dotou said smiling. "The treasure is buried deep in the valley up in the mountains. And to get access to it you need that necklace that you're wearing. What the treasure exactly is I don't know but your father said it could make Yuki no Kuni richer than any other country in the world."

"My necklace?" Koyuki said taking it in her hands. She had carried for as long as she could remember but never would she have thought that this was the key to that supposed treasure.

"Yes and now that you're finally here before me, I'll take what's rightfully mine." Dotou said reading out to grab Koyuki.

He never had the chance as Naruto just arrived and kicked him in the head sending him flying. Dotou managed to get up and glared at Naruto for stopping him. If only those two shinobi hadn't interrupted his plans; he could have had the treasure by now.

"You'll pay for ruining my plans." Dotou said angry.

"Yeah yeah I heard that before." Naruto said ignoring the threat.

Not willing to give the man a chance to do more damage Naruto made a clone and produced an Oodama Rasengan and hit Dotou straight on. Dotou's version of the armor was a bit more advanced than the others and activated as soon as foreign chakra was detected. The large Rasengan clashed with the shield and Dotou laughed saying that nothing would penetrate his shield.

"Please, you should really give up trying to make people give up." Naruto said before pushing more chakra into the Rasengan.

Dotou was about to retort when a crack appeared in the shield. Soon another crack followed and to his horror the shield broke in a million pieces. The Rasengan hit him straight on, burying it into his chest before hurling him away across the field. He flew through several tree before finally coming to a stop. Naruto didn't need to confirm if the man was dead as nobody would survive such an attack. That and the fact that half of Dotou chest was gone.

Koyuki and the villagers stared at the destruction the attack had made before realizing that Dotou was defeated. Once the realized this screams of victory and joy could be heard for miles away. Naruto smiled at them happy that he had stayed to help them. After watching them for a minute he turned to look for Jiraiya and grinned as the man was calmly walking towards them with no injuries what so ever.

"You okay, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked the man.

"As if two weaklings like them could hurt me." Jiraiya snorted. "All it took was a bit of planning and waiting. Didn't even break a sweat."

They turned to the villagers who were still dancing and screaming victory. Koyuki was hugging Sandayuu before she noticed Naruto standing there smiling at her. She let go of her former manager and grabbed Naruto in a fierce hug thanking him over and over again. Naruto just laughed and said she was welcome so she would let him go. Jiraiya was waiting with open arms to receive his hugs as well but Koyuki just thanked him verbally and returned to her people.

"What? What about my hug?" Jiraiya said disappointed.

"Guess she already knows just how much of a pervert you really are, huh Ero-Sennin?" Naruto grinned at him.

"Shut up, Gaki." Jiraiya yelled at his apprentice. "It's not fair." He said sulking.

"Cheer up Ero-Sennin, there's bound to be a party sooner or later." Naruto said. "Who knows, there might be some women drunk enough to hook up with you."

* * *

Weeks later Naruto and Jiraiya were finally saying their goodbye's to Koyuki and Yuki no Kuni. Just like Jiraiya had predicted both of them were heralded as heroes and they had one party after another in their honor. Jiraiya had been very happy about the past few weeks as he had filled three notepads thanks to all the inspiration he had come up with. Naruto had been happy and embarrassed to receive so much fame but had stayed relatively calm during the parties. He had mostly stayed with Koyuki, keeping away from all the awe-inspired girls that were after him.

"You don't have to leave you know." Koyuki said sadly to Naruto. "You could stay here and be king?" she added with a wink. Jiraiya quickly took out a new notepad and started scribbling away.

"I'm honored you would consider me in that way but I have to refuse." Naruto said smiling. "I'm taken, remember?"

"I'll be sure to ask for this Anko when I'm promoting the movie in Konoha." Koyuki nodded. "And I'll deliver this scroll, don't worry."

When Koyuki had said she would continue being an actress and make movies Naruto had been surprised. But then she told him that in a few months she would have to promote her new movie in Konoha and he had immediately asked her to deliver a message to Anko and his friends. Naturally Koyuki had no problems with that and assured him that she would deliver the scroll.

"Well, let's go Gaki." Jiraiya called out.

"Coming Ero-Sennin." Naruto yelled back before giving Koyuki one last hug.

Koyuki watched him leave and couldn't help but feel a little jealous of this Anko person. Naruto was a dream to be with and she had gotten quite fond of him and she hadn't been joking when she said he could become king alongside her. In the end she knew it wouldn't be possible as Naruto's heart was already taken.

'You'll become the most amazing Hokage ever.' Koyuki thought before returning to her home. She had this treasure to figure out to.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the chapter and how I changed the events of the movie. I made it a bit more humorous and easier for Naruto and Jiraiya to deal with this as, let's face it the snow shinobi didn't stand a chance against one of the Sannin and his apprentice. Let me know how it was and see you soon.


	45. Chapter 45: The return

I don't own Naruto.

Hello everyone. I'm sure all of you are surprised to find an update of this chapter being released today. It's been a long wait and for that I apologize. It's been so difficult getting past the writer's block I had on this story and I'm not fully convinced that it's over. Still I wanted to give you all a chapter. It's definitely not the best chapter I've written but its remotely better than anything I've come up with during all those months ago.

I must warn you though that I won't be posting a chapter every two weeks as I want to prepare the next few chapter in detail. I want to make sure that the chapters are up to standards and not some quickly written drivel. Any idea's or suggestions are welcome both in PM's or review.

Hope you like it.

* * *

Chapter 45: The return

Anko grunted loudly as she woke up to the blaring sound of her alarm clock. Not wanting to be submitted any longer to the irritating sound she climbed over to her side of the bed and almost destroyed the poor device by slamming her hand on the power button. Sighing, she immediately crawled back to the other side of the bed. 'Naruto's side' she thought sadly. She inhaled deeply trying to catch his scent but it had long dissipated from the sheets.

It had been almost three years since her student, best friend, lover, future husband and father of her children had gone on his training trip with the Toad Sennin, Jiraiya. Three long years had she woken up alone in the bed. It had been hard. Very hard to survive these three years and frankly she couldn't have done it without Kurenai and her team. When Naruto had just left, the first day she woke up alone in bed after so many months of waking up next to him, she had broken down and cried for hours. It was totally unlike her but she couldn't help it. She missed him.

Thankfully the three years had reached their end and she hoped that Naruto would come back soon. Three years without hearing from him was a hardship she hoped never to go through again. No, she did hear from him once. She opened the drawer of her nightstand and took out a worn scroll and opened it, reading the words that she already knew by heart. It was a message from Naruto, delivered by none other than the ruler of Yuki no Kuni, Princess Koyuki. Anko remembered the day she received the scroll like it was yesterday.

_Flashback_

Naruto had been gone for almost a year and a half now and she still hadn't received any news or heard any rumors about him. Wherever he was, he was well hidden and stayed out of trouble. That was a good thing of course as the aim of this trip was to prepare Naruto for Akatsuki and to keep him under the radar. Still, she would have loved to hear from him or about him every once in a while. With Naruto gone, she had helped Kurenai and Team 8 out with training and the group training that they had started as well. Those Genin had become some of the strongest people she had ever seen.

Several of them had participated in the Chuunin exams and had been promoted to Chuunin. Neji, Lee, Hinata, Shino and Kiba were the first of the gang to become Chuunin. The rest of the gang soon followed after that. Anko and the other Jounin sensei were all very proud of their accomplishments but the newly promoted Chuunin weren't that enthusiastic. When asked why none of them felt the need to be proud and happy, they answered that Naruto wasn't there to celebrate with them and that they felt that no matter what, Naruto would always be the one that was miles ahead of them.

"Anko, you're wanted at the Hokage's office." Kurenai said bringing Anko out of her thoughts.

"What does she wants now?" Anko sighed. The woman had also been one of the many that had helped her through her difficult times but sometimes the woman was just too pushy. Anko knew she meant well but honestly, who wants to get hammered every single day?

"I don't know but you better get going." Kurenai said shrugging.

Anko nodded and made her way to the Hokage Tower. Along the way she was greeted with smile by most of the villagers. This was something that had started once it became known that she was in a relationship with Naruto and while she didn't really care about it anymore, she was still happy that she finally was treated with some kindness and respect. Reaching the Tower she passed the guards and secretary and entered the office.

"You called?" Anko asked her leader.

"Yes, I did." Tsunade smiled. "I'd like to introduce you to Kazahana Koyuki, princess and ruler of Yuki no Kuni."

Anko then noticed the woman standing in the office and recognized her from the movies. She was a bit surprised that an actress was also a princess but she had seen crazier things in her life. She was however on guard as she noticed the woman seizing her up as if she was making a decision about her. Something strange was going on here and she wanted to know what it was.

"It's a pleasure meeting you Anko-san." Koyuki said with a smile.

"Likewise, Kazahana-sama." Anko said politely; no need to piss of a princess by being rude after all.

"Please call me Koyuki, Anko-san." She smiled. "I have a feeling we'll be talking for a long time."

"Huh? Okay." Anko said wondering what the princess meant by that.

"Koyuki-san asked specifically for you Anko." Tsunade smiled already knowing what this was all about.

"I see." Anko said clearly not understanding.

"Let me explain." Koyuki said. "Until a few months ago, Yuki no Kuni was under the dictatorship of my uncle. Recently, I have taken back my country and things have changed for the better. Yuki no Kuni is slowly but surely recovering from years of isolation and bad leadership. We finally have started to heal and although it will take a few more years and a lot of effort, I believe that we can become a great country like Hi no Kuni."

"That's all very interesting Koyuki-san but what does this have to do with me?" Anko asked confused.

"I'm telling you all this because Yuki no Kuni couldn't have survived if it wasn't for a certain blond-haired, whiskered shinobi by the name of….." Koyuki smiled.

"NARUTO-KUN." Anko yelled out. "You saw him? How was he? Is he alright?"

"Anko, relax and listen to the story." Tsunade smiled. She understood Anko's reaction as she had done the exact same thing.

"Yes, I met Naruto." Koyuki said quickly. "He saved me and Yuki no Kuni. He's a hero beyond heroes, you are a very lucky woman Anko-san. I've never met anyone quite like him and while we didn't start of as friends, we got to know each other during the brief time he was in Yuki no Kuni. He and Jiraiya-sama defeated my uncle's army and destroyed his base, thus freeing my country from his grip."

"Naruto-kun did that?" Anko asked amazed. "He's gotten stronger then."

"We talked a lot about our lives and he always got a faraway look when he talked about Konoha." Koyuki continued. "He used to talk about his 'Anko-chan' and how much he missed her. When I told him that I would come to Konoha to promote my newest movie he asked me for a favor."

"A favor?" Anko asked her. "What kind of favor?"

Koyuki took out a scroll from her bag and gave it to Anko who accepted it with shaking hands. Anko smeared some blood on the seal and the scroll opened to reveal a written message. Anko walked to the other side of the office and started reading. Once she finished the letter, she broke down in tears and Tsunade rushed over to see if she was alright.

"Anko, are you okay ?" Tsunade asked concerned. "What did it say?"

"He loves me and misses me." Anko said with a brilliant smile. "He didn't say anything else but that. It's a letter to assure me how much he loves me."

"Like I said, you're a lucky woman Anko-san." Koyuki said with a little hint of jealousy. "Be sure to take good care of him, or someone might try to do it in your stead."

"Don't worry about that, Kazahana-sama." Anko said briskly understanding the princess' words. "I know exactly how lucky I am."

"Good then I hope we can be friends." Koyuki said smiling.

_End flashback_

Anko pressed the scroll to her heart and chuckled when she remembered what had happened afterwards. Koyuki had told her to go watch the movie with all of Naruto's friends and family. She was also instructed to watch until the very end of the credits, which would have a small surprise for her as well. Anko nodded and thanked Koyuki for everything. Later that night Anko and friends all went to see the movie, thanks to Koyuki giving them first seat tickets, and throughout the movie Anko couldn't help but wonder what the surprise was. Once the credits finally started rolling over the screen, she ordered everyone to stay seated and watch for the surprise. Then suddenly a message appeared on the screen.

_flashback_

'The people of Yuki no Kuni would like to thank their heroes, Namikaze Naruto and Jiraiya of the Sannin. Without their help Yuki no Kuni would still be a place of despair and without hope for a better future. Our heroes gave us back our princess, our hope, our country and our future. For this the people of Yuki no Kuni will forever be indebted to them. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.'

The message disappeared and an image of a laughing Naruto and a disgruntled Jiraiya appeared. Anko watched with tears at how her lover had changed. He looked older and a lot stronger. His blue eyes and smile however hadn't changed at all, something for which Anko was very grateful.

_End flashback_

Needless to say the others were very surprised and happy to hear news from Naruto. Kiba had cursed saying that Naruto was now the hero in two countries and that he would have to find a country of his own to save, just so that Naruto didn't get too far ahead. Everyone had laughed at that.

Deciding that she wouldn't accomplish much today if she stayed in bed, Anko got up and quickly took a shower. She might as well go and see what Kurenai was up to. If she stayed at home, she would only get depressed again. Closing the door behind her she made her way over to the training area where the teams still had their daily training schedule together. She wondered what Naruto was doing right now.

* * *

"Come on, Ero-Sennin." Naruto complained loudly. "Man, your old age is catching up to you. Could you be any slower?"

"Could you be any more annoying?" Jiraiya bit back. "What's gotten into you? You've been pumped up ever since we got back into Hi no Kuni."

"Like you don't know." Naruto said. "I want to go home. We've been gone for three years already."

"You just want to go back to your girlfriend." Jiraiya said with a lecherous smirk.

"And you're a pervert." Naruto answered but he didn't deny what his sensei had said. "But yes, I want to see Anko-chan. I missed her, okay?"

"Relax Gaki, we should get to Konoha by the end of the day." Jiraiya smiled. Really, he understood why Naruto was so anxious to go home. The past three year had changed both of them. Naruto most of all of course. The young shinobi was a carbon copy of his father and Jiraiya was equally proud of Naruto. The boy had surpassed his wildest expectations and more. While there were still some things that he needed to teach Naruto about being a Toad summoner, he had no doubt that Naruto would be able to hold his own against a lot of shinobi. He wondered who win in a match between a seventeen year old Minato and a seventeen year old Naruto. It would be a match of epic proportions, he was sure of that.

During their training Naruto had been focused on getting stronger and faster while learning new jutsu. The result was a well rounded shinobi that would be able to fight in near well any situation. Together the two had trained Naruto in speed, strength and stamina. Naruto could now hold his own against Jiraiya as long as the Toad Sennin didn't fight without holding back. If he was to make a guess, Jiraiya figured that Naruto was about the same level as an Jounin like Kakashi and Gai. Still, the boy had a lot to learn before he would be able to defeat Kakashi or Gai in single combat. Experience came with age and was something invaluable to a shinobi.

Looking at Naruto's back he couldn't help but see Minato and Kushina in the boy. It was scary how well he resembled both of them. The outside was all Minato, just like his abilities with Jutsu making and Fuinjutsu. Personality wise, he was a lot more like his mother. Stubborn at moments, passionate, a heart of gold and willing to give everyone a chance. That was what Naruto received from his mother's side. He was the perfect blend of his parents and Jiraiya wouldn't want it any other way. He looked forward at how Konoha would react to his pupil's return. That and the prospect of seeing some of Konoha's beauties made him hurry after Naruto.

* * *

Tsunade had just returned from a council meeting and she was dead tired. She was glad that the reformation of the council had worked out so well. Hideki and her sensei were the perfect leaders of each council and they dealt with the more daily stuff so that she could concentrate on the more important things. That didn't mean that she didn't have to deal with some troublesome and irritating stuff but at least it was far less than that what the Sandaime had told her.

This meeting had been about the evaluation of the Konoha Shinobi Academy. Over the past three years they had reformed the Academy by using Naruto's suggestions, which he had made when Tsunade had become Hokage. It had been a long term project and it was reaching completion. During the first year, they had slowly introduced the last year students to D-rank missions under guidance of retired shinobi. That had been a major success on several levels. First, the Genin hopefuls learned a lot and they got a first glimpse at what it meant to be a shinobi. They learned to work together and the retired shinobi were only too happy to be of service to the village. Secondly, it was also good for the village, as the money that they usually had to pay the Genin could be used for other things, like strengthen their defenses.

In the second year, they introduced several new courses in the curriculum. Now students would be introduced to courses like Medical Ninjutsu, Interrogation and Torture, Strategic and Tactical Thinking, and so on. These classes were not only available to academy students but to everyone who wanted to follow them. And it had been a great success as a lot of Genin, Chuunin and even Jounin had become interested in one or more of the classes.

Now, in the last year they had changed the introduction course to full blown courses. Academy students who had dreams of becoming a Medic-Nin would have a different curriculum than normal students as they would have courses in the hospital and work there several hours in the week. Students with interest in being an interrogator would be taught psychology and be apprenticed to Ibiki or another interrogator.

"Tsunade-sama, how did the meeting go?" Shizune asked her long time mentor.

"Surprisingly, things went well." Tsunade said relaxing. "Most of them were very impressed with the results and voted for a continuation of the program. Makes sense though, you could hardly argue with the numbers Iruka provided. Over the past three year, we have lost less Genin than ever before. We have an increase in Genin who pass their Chuunin exam on the first time. The reforms have shown their potential and everyone was excited to say the least."

"And the fact that our mission numbers have gone up after every Chuunin Exam helps as well, I imagine." Shizune smiled.

"Yes, there's that as well." Tsunade sighed. "But it's also cause for worry."

"What do you mean?" Shizune asked surprised.

"It means that if we continue flaunting our newly found strength, we'll get in trouble with the other villages." Tsunade explained. "Ever since the last great shinobi war, the hidden village have been in a state of disarming. We've managed to keep the peace because all of us remained at the same level for quite a while. Now however, Konoha is producing a lot more Genin and the number of active shinobi is on the rise for the past three years. This will not remain undiscovered. One day, one of the other villages will start getting suspicious and who knows what will happen then."

"But it's not like we're growing our force to start a war or something." Shizune argued.

"You and I know that, but do you think they'll believe us if we explained that?" Tsunade sighed. "No, it's better that we slow down a bit and that's why I introduced a new motion."

"What motion?" Shizune wanted to know.

"As of this year, all Genin must have at least one year of active duty before they can participate in the Chuunin exams." Tsunade said. "Also, there will only be a fixed number of Genin that will be allowed to participate in the exam."

"That's kind of unfair to those who aren't allowed to enter." Shizune frowned a bit.

"I know but those that aren't allowed one year are automatically selected to participate in the next exams." Tsunade explained. "It's the only way I can think of to stop alienating the other villages. Can you image what would happen if Iwa or Kumo declare war once more. I don't know about you but I for one, don't want that to happen."

Shizune silently agreed with her mentor. A war was the last thing Konoha needed right now; dealing with Akatsuki and Orochimaru was more than enough. She didn't want to think about what would happen if that man formed another alliance with a village in order to destroy Konoha. It had ended well last time but they might not be so lucky again. Deciding to change the subject she asked about the one person that could always cheer Tsunade up.

"So, any news from Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked smiling as she saw Tsunade's face lit up.

"As a matter of fact, yes." She nodded. "Jiraiya sent me a message with a Toad not even a few hours ago. It seems they're on their way back."

"Really? Have you notified Anko?" Shizune said happily.

"No, not yet." Tsunade shook her head. "I don't want to bring her hope up; when Naruto gets here, the first thing he'll do is look for her."

Shizune giggled at the thought of Naruto turning Konoha upside down in search for Anko. She wouldn't be surprised if it actually happened as everyone knew how much those two loved each other. The reunion would be a sight to see, that was sure. Still, it was getting pretty late and she hoped that they would be back before nightfall. No shinobi liked traveling at night.

* * *

Meanwhile, Anko was filling in for Kurenai with physical training Team 8. Kurenai had a doctor's appointment that afternoon so she volunteered to babysit. Team 8 however, didn't have much to look forward to as Anko's training was always much harder than Kurenai's. Anko just ignored any complaints headed her way and ordered them to do another ten laps around the village. While laughing at their shocked faces, Anko couldn't help but feel that something was going to happen. She had no idea how right she was.

* * *

Naruto smiled brightly when the outer walls of the village came into sight. He was almost home. Deciding to ditch the old man behind him, he sped up and ran straight at the gate of Konoha. Jiraiya let him, knowing there was no way he could stop the blond now. Still, he didn't want to miss the triumphant return of the heroes so he too, started running and soon caught up with his second pupil. He even got excited being back as well.

At the gate, the ever faithful duo Kotetsu and Izumo were standing guard. One they saw two figures headed their way, they were on alert and ready for anything. But when they saw the familiar blond haired shinobi, followed by one of the most legendary shinobi to ever leave Konoha they relaxed knowing that it wasn't a threat. They waited patiently for them to arrive so they could greet and welcome them back. They didn't expect to be ignored by both of them however.

"Hey Kotetsu, Izumo. Good seeing you again. Bye." Naruto yelled when he passed by.

"Hey, you two. Could you inform Tsunade we're back?" Jiraiya said at the same time.

"The fuck?" the duo exclaimed. "They just ran straight past us. How rude."

Nonetheless, they did as they were told and send a messenger to inform the Hokage of their return. They didn't want to be the ones who failed to tell Tsunade that Naruto was back. That would be a one way ticket with Tsunade Air™ over the Hokage monument. They had seen it happen before and the several weeks of rehabilitation were enough to scare anyone into doing what they were told. That and never wake her up when she had been drinking.

* * *

Anko was madly crackling at Team 8 who were slumped down on the ground after completing the training Anko had made them do. By now, Kurenai had joined them again and she was shaking her head at Anko's antics. Though she was used to it, seeing Anko behave like that showed her that the woman was having a hard time. Every time she was feeling lonely or sad, she would revert to her old persona of a crazy snake lady, as the people used to call her.

Anko was laughing but inside she felt lonely. She missed her lover, and waking up and then reading the scroll made it only harder for her. Suddenly she felt herself being lifted off the ground and a pair of arms snaked around her, hugging her close. Before she could act or push the arms away, she felt a pair of lips on hers. Normally, she would kill any man that kissed her but the kiss told her everything she needed to know about the identity of her attacker. There was only one man who kissed her like that and that was Naruto. She hungrily responded and kissed him back while hugging him closely. Her loneliness forgotten, she held him close making sure he was really back.

Team 8 and Kurenai, who had been ready to kick ass, relaxed when they too recognized the blond assailant. Not a few seconds later, Jiraiya arrived with Tsunade and the rest of gang behind him. How everyone had already heard of their return was a mystery but here they were. Everyone looked on at how the two lovers were finally reunited after three long years. They waited for several minutes, not wanting to disturb them but when they showed no sign of stopping, Tsunade opened her mouth.

"Hey brat, how long do you intend to keep us waiting?" she yelled but everyone could hear her emotions.

"Hey there, Baa-chan." Naruto said when he finally separated from Anko's lips. He smirked at Tsunade's face when he called her that name again but knew she wouldn't be mad about it.

"Ha, still that impolite, immature little brat you used to be." Tsunade snorted.

"And you're still using that fake Genjutsu to cover the fact that you're old." Naruto answered still holding Anko close to him.

"Why you little…" Tsunade growled and grabbed him in a headlock before she pulled him in a hug. "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too." Naruto replied in the hug. "It's good to be back. I was getting tired of Ero-Sennin's snoring."

"Hey, I do not snore." Jiraiya yelled loudly but everyone was too busy laughing to notice.

Naruto then turned to the rest of the gang and greeted them. With Anko still holding on to him, he had a great time listening to their stories even though they had to be cut down into quick summaries. When he finally noticed Kurenai he smiled brightly and gently hugged her.

"Kurenai-sensei, I see Asuma-sensei finally got the nerve to ask you out." He smiled. "Congratulations on the baby."

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Kurenai smiled placing a hand on her stomach. "But Asuma wasn't the one who took the first step."

"Yeah, you should have seen his face when Kurenai grabbed him by the collar and kissed him." Anko laughed and everyone joined in. "He didn't know what was happening and he fainted straight after she let go of him."

"Hey, I was surprised okay." Asuma said trying to defend himself. "Give a man a break, will you?"

"Don't worry Asuma-sensei, I understand." Naruto smiled before turning serious. Before anyone could blink Naruto disappeared from Anko's side and appeared next to Asuma with his sword drawn and aimed at his lower region. "I trust you to take good care of her and the baby. If you do anything to hurt her, I won't hold back."

Everyone was shocked at the speed at which Naruto had moved, even if the distance was relatively small. For most of them the speed was too high to follow and that meant something. When Asuma assured that he would take absolute care of his family, Naruto clapped him on the shoulder congratulating him once more. Naruto then started to answer some of his former teammate's questions while the others stood aside discussing with Jiraiya.

"Jiraiya, what the hell did you teach Naruto." Asuma said softly still shocked from before.

"Oh you know, this and that." Jiraiya shrugged smiling but turned serious when he saw Tsunade glare at him. "Ahem, well to be honest Naruto pretty much taught himself. At the beginning I focused on teaching him to be my successor so I introduced him to my spy network while traveling. During our travels he worked on pretty much everything, Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, Ninjutsu, Fuinjutsu you name it he worked on it."

"How strong do you think he is?" Tsunade wanted to know.

"Honestly, I have no idea." Jiraiya said sheepishly. "Let me explain, Naruto and I often sparred and fought some very strong enemies during the three years. During our spars however, I noticed that he always held back, because he knew it was just a spar. During real fights however, his potential and abilities rise to unknown levels. It's then that he shines the brightest; his brain goes into overdrive and he adapts during the fight."

"If you had to guess, what rank would you give him?" Sarutobi asked his pupil.

"Jounin for sure." Jiraiya said without a doubt. "He has the strength and the abilities; all he needs is experience but that comes naturally. As he is right now, he has gained a lot of experience fighting stronger opponents but he still needs to learn to lead a team."

"I see." Sarutobi said feeling immensely proud of his adoptive grandson.

"Alright, let's head for the tower and then you two can debrief me." Tsunade said with authority.

"Forgive me Tsunade-sama but I would like to spend the evening with my fiancé." Anko said. "It's been three years and I think we both deserve to have our first night together without having to debrief for several hours. I promise you that we'll come by the first thing in the morning but please, allow me to take him home for now."

"Very well Anko, I guess I can understand that." Tsunade sighed but she smiled at the woman. "I want you two to be in my office first thing in the morning, understood?"

Anko nodded before walking over to Naruto who was still listening to his friends adventures and she grabbed him in a hug. She whispered in his ear to take home and Naruto happily nodded. He quickly wished everyone goodnight and told them that they would see each other in the next few days. He picked Anko up in bridal style and left the clearing at high speed, jumping over the rooftops and through the trees until he reached the familiar home of his parents. He smiled brightly at the woman in his arms and kissed her. He was home.


End file.
